The flavor of the year at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show: Wasabi.

A Pekingese named Wasabi won best in show Sunday night, notching a fifth-ever win for the unmistakable toy breed. A whippet named Bourbon repeated as runner-up.

Waddling through a small-but-mighty turn in the ring, Wasabi nabbed U.S. dogdomB次元官网网址檚 most prestigious prize after winning the big American Kennel Club National Championship in 2019.

B次元官网网址淗e has showmanship. He fits the breed standard. He has that little extra something, that sparkle, that sets a dog apart,B次元官网网址� said WasabiB次元官网网址檚 handler, breeder and co-owner, David Fitzpatrick. Show judge Patricia Trotter said simply: B次元官网网址淲hatB次元官网网址檚 not to like about this dog? B次元官网网址� He stood there as though he was a lion.B次元官网网址�

Fitzpatrick, of East Berlin, Pennsylvania, guided the PekeB次元官网网址檚 grandfather Malachy to the Westminster title in 2012. Still, he said, B次元官网网址淚 just donB次元官网网址檛 always think lightning is going to strike twice.B次元官网网址�

How will Wasabi celebrate?

B次元官网网址淗e can have a filet mignon. And IB次元官网网址檒l have Champagne,B次元官网网址� Fitzpatrick said with a laugh.

The 3-year-old Pekingese, meanwhile, was B次元官网网址減retty nonchalant about the whole thing,B次元官网网址� his handler said. Indeed, Wasabi laid down on the dais, occasionally looking up as if to see what the fuss was all about, as Fitzpatrick spoke before a cluster of reporters and cameras.

It was a poignant win that came after one of his co-owners, archaeologist Iris Love, died last year of COVID-19. Besides Fitzpatrick, the dog is also co-owned by Sandra Middlebrooks and Peggy Steinman.

Wasabi B次元官网网址� the name derives from his mother, Sushi B次元官网网址� came out on top of a finalist pack that also included Mathew the French bulldog, Connor the old English sheepdog, Jade the German shorthaired pointer, Striker the Samoyed, and a West Highland white terrier named Boy. Altogether, 2,500 champion dogs entered the show.

It underwent big changes this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, moving out of New York City for the first time since the showB次元官网网址檚 1877 founding. This yearB次元官网网址檚 show was held outdoors at an estate in suburban Tarrytown, about 25 miles north of where the top ribbon is usually presented at Madison Square Garden, and it happened in June instead of February.

In a sign of the pandemic times, some handlers wore masks B次元官网网址� though vaccinated people were allowed to go without B次元官网网址� and the show was closed to the public.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a miracle that they even had this show,B次元官网网址� Fitzpatrick said.

Striker went into the show as the top-ranked U.S. dog, with more than 40 best in show wins since January 2020. And Bourbon had also won the AKC National Championship.

The show was bittersweet for JadeB次元官网网址檚 handler and co-owner, Valerie Nunes-Atkinson. She guided JadeB次元官网网址檚 father, CJ, to a 2016 Westminster best in show win B次元官网网址� and lost him last September, when the 7-year-old died unexpectedly of a fungal infection.

B次元官网网址淭he good part about it is: HeB次元官网网址檚 left an incredible legacy,B次元官网网址� said Nunes-Atkinson, of Temecula, California. She said Jade B次元官网网址渉ad my heartB次元官网网址� from birth.

Boy had come a long way to Westminster B次元官网网址� all the way from Thailand, where one of his owners was watching from Bangkok, according to handler Rebecca Cross.

B次元官网网址淗e always makes us laugh,B次元官网网址� said Cross, of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

For many dog owners, just making it to Westminster is a thrill B次元官网网址� even for baseballB次元官网网址檚 all-time home run leader, Barry Bonds, who was cheering on a miniature schnauzer he owns with sister Cheryl Dugan.

The dog, Rocky, didnB次元官网网址檛 win his breed, but the slugger said he was proud of Rocky simply for qualifying for the champions-only show.

B次元官网网址淲e won because we got here. ThatB次元官网网址檚 all that matters,B次元官网网址� Bonds told Fox Sports. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e been to a lot of playoffs, and IB次元官网网址檝e been to the World Series, and IB次元官网网址檝e never won. But for 22 years, I kept trying.B次元官网网址�

The 56-year-old Bonds holds baseballB次元官网网址檚 career home run record with 762, though his feat was clouded by allegations of steroid use B次元官网网址� he denied knowingly taking them.

While semifinal and final rounds were held in a climate-controlled tent, earlier parts of the competition unfolded on the grass at an estate called Lyndhurst.

Douglas Tighe, who handled a Brittany named Pennie second place in the sporting group, says he just goes with it if his dogs get distracted by birds and other attractions in the great outdoors.

B次元官网网址淟et them have fun,B次元官网网址� said Tighe, of Hope, New Jersey. B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 what itB次元官网网址檚 all about.B次元官网网址�

ThatB次元官网网址檚 what itB次元官网网址檚 about to Kole Brown, too. At age 9, he showed a bull terrier named Riley on Sunday alongside his parents, Kurtis Brown and U.S. Air Force Capt. Samantha Brown, and some of the familyB次元官网网址檚 other bull terriers.

B次元官网网址淚 have a lot of fun with this sport,B次元官网网址� said Kole, of San Antonio, Texas. B次元官网网址淓very single time I go into the ring, I have a smile on my face.B次元官网网址�

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Associated Press writer Ben Walker contributed to this report from New York.

Jennifer Peltz, The Associated Press