vious versions of Madison Square Garden, and is currently being staged in MSG IV. It is one of only four events to be held in all four “Gardens.” The dog show has survived power out- ages, snowstorms, a national depres- sion, two World Wars and a tugboat strike that threatened to shut down the city, in the process becoming the sec- ond longest continuously held sporting event in the country. Only the Kentucky Derby has been staged longer – but by just one year. Westminster even pre-dates the estab- lishment of the governing body of the sport, the American Kennel Club, by seven years. In fact, in 1877, members of Westminster and members of the Kennel Club of Philadelphia had togeth- er adopted a set of show rules and reg- ulations and established a Board of Appeals to oversee these rules. This was the precursor of the American Kennel Club, which was finally created in 1884. As one might imagine, the history of the club and its show is rich and colorful. In the early Westminster years, some interesting names showed up in the cat- alogs. In the first show, there were two Staghounds listed as being from the late General George Custer’s pack, and two Deerhounds that had been bred by the Queen of England. In 1889, the Czar of Russia is listed as the breeder of a Siberian Wolfhound entered, and the following year, one of the entries is a Russian Wolfhound whose listed owner was the Emperor of Germany. Philanthropist J. P. Morgan made the first of his many appearances at Westminster with his Collies in 1893. Famous American journalist Nelly Bly entered her Maltese at Westminster in 1894, some four years after she made a record-breaking trip around the world in 72 days, 6 hours and 11 minutes, rac- ing the record of Phineas Fogg in Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days. The most-coveted award in the dog show world, Best In Show at Westminster, was given for the first time in 1907. That year, and for the next two years as well, it went to a Smooth Fox Terrier bitch named Ch. Warren Remedy. She remains the only dog ever to win three times. Six other dogs have won Best In Show twice, the most recent being the English Springer Spaniel, Ch. Chinoe’s Adamant James in 1971 and 1972. n
CH. WARREN REMEDY , (1905-1912), was Best in Show winner of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in 1907, 1908, and 1909. She was a Smooth-coated fox terrier owned by Winthrop
Rutherfurd, and is the only dog to have won Westminster three years in a row. Remedy was sired by Sabine Resist from Routon Dainty. She was bred by Winthrop Rutherfurd, and brought up at the Warren Kennels in Allamuchy Township, New Jersey.
The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show introduced a Best in Show com- petition in 1907, the first since the show's inception in 1877. At the age of 20 months, Warren Remedy was entered in the competition and progressed through breed and group victories into the Best in Show round. She faced off against sixteen other breeds of dogs. These included the Rough Collie Squire of Tytton, who had won the Van Schaick Cup earlier in the show, and the English Sheepdog Dolly Gray, who won the Castle Gould Cup. Ten judges preceded over the Best in Show round and awarded the title to Warren Remedy. Immediately afterwards, Remedy competed once again at the show, this time for Ballyhoo Bay Challenge Cup awarded by the Ladies Kennel Association of America. A similar lineup of dogs competed for the trophy, with the exception of Squire of Tytton being replaced with the American-bred Rough Collie Mountaineer Magistrate. Remedy was expected to win this title as well, but it was instead awarded to the English Setter Deodora Prince. Remedy retained the Best in Show title at the Westminster Kennel Club show in 1908, and afterwards was declared to be the "best dog of her kind in America". She won Westminster once again in 1909, although reports mis- takenly gave her name as "Warren Rutherford". At the 1910 Westminster Show, Remedy was beaten in what was viewed as a surprise victory in the best Smooth Fox Terrier bitch contest by Sabine Fernie. Fernie went on to be beaten by fellow Sabine Kennel's dog, Sabine Rarebit in the best overall Smooth Fox Terrier contest. Rarebit went on to win the Best in Show title, the first time it had been awarded to a dog other than Warren Remedy. Warren Remedy's death was reported by The New York Times on December 17, 1912. She died in the Warren Kennels on Winthrop Rutherfurd's farm in Allamuchy Township. Warren Remedy remains the only dog to have won Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on three occasions, the most victories by any single dog. Bronze statues were later crafted of Remedy's form by Ric Chashoudian. These statues were used as awards to show dog owners for a series of awards by the Westminster Kennel Club. Likewise, crystal statues were created of Warren Remedy were created for the handlers of the show dogs. n
Photo by Joshua Jackson
S how S ight M agazine , F ebruary 2018 • 75
Powered by FlippingBook