2021
Owners: Sandra Middlebrooks, Peggy Steinman, Iris Love and David Fitzpatrick
Judge: Mr. Desmond Murphy
Entry: 4,456
Winning at Morris & Essex is already heady stuff: Winning three times in a row with three dogs of the same breed is all but unimaginable. But that's exactly what breeder-owner-handler David Fitzpatrick did at this pandemic-delayed show. With this Morris & Essex win, "Wasabi" also completed the trifecta of American dog shows, having won Westminster earlier in the year and the AKC National Championship in 2020.
Pekingese
Ch. Pequest Wasabi
2015
Owners: N. Shapland and David Fitzpatrick
Judge: Mrs. Dorothy Collier
Entry: 4,656
Winning with "The General" was doubly sweet for handler David Fitzpatrick: For the second consecutive show, he won Best in Show at Morris & Essex Kennel Club Show under judge Mrs. Dorothy Collier. (He won with Malachy the Pekingese in 2010.) This year's show was the largest single-day outdoor show in American history, second only to Mrs. Dodge's 1939 show.
Pekingese
GCh. Pequest
General Tso
2010
Pekingese
Ch. Palacegarden
Malachy
Owners: Sandra Middlebrooks, Iris Love and David Fitzpatrick
Judge: Mr. Robert Forsyth
Entry: 3,415
"Malachy" was just two years old when he reached the pinnacle at the third "modern" Morris & Essex show. He went on to win Best in Show at Westminster in 2012. The huge blue-and-orange Morris & Essex ribbon was the final one bestowed by judge Robert Forsyth, who retired after this assignment.
2005
Colored Bull Terrier
Ch. Rocky Top’s
Sundance Kid
Owners: Barbara Bishop, Norma Shepherd, William and Rebecca Poole and Dorothy Cherry
Judge: Mrs. Michele Billings
Entry: 3,163
In 2005, Morris & Essex’s Best in Show again went to a Terrier, albeit a non-traditional one. The big win was the first of many prestigious ones for "Rufus." “It felt like the Triple Crown,” said his owner Barbara Bishop. “He won this, then the National Dog Show, and then Westminster.” After his retirement, Rufus brightened hundreds of lives as a therapy dog.
2000
Owner: Marilu Hansen
Judge: Mr. Melbourne T.L. Downing
Entry: 3,223
Eleven of the first 26 Morris & Essex shows were won by terriers, so it seemed fitting that the first show of its modern reincarnation was won by a Kerry Blue fresh from winning Crufts in his native land. The legendary “Mick” finished his American championship at Morris & Essex in 2005, then won the show from the classes. He repeated the win later in the weekend, at the Montgomery Kennel Club Show.
Kerry Blue Terrier
Ch. Torum's Scarf
Michael
1957
Owner: Mrs. Saunders L. Meade
Judge: Mr. Lewis S. Worden
Entry: 2,548
Miniature Poodle
Ch. Fircot L’Ballerine
of Maryland
1956
Owner: Mrs. Sydney K. Allman Jr.
Judge: Mrs. Edward P. Renner
Entry: 2,304
This stylish 27-month-old Dalmatian, a four-time BIS winner before he took the M&E honors, was a relatively new acquisition at Mrs. Allman's kennel in Dolyestown, Pennsylvania. In what was believed to be an unprecedented trifecta at the show, Roadster's professional handler, Charley Meyer, had won the Hound Group with Afghan Hound Ch. Majara Menelek and the Sporting Group with black-and-white Pointer Ch. Finefield's Cover Girl. He stayed on the Dal -- wisely, it turned out.
Dalmatian
Ch. Roadcoach
Roadster
1955
Owners: Mr. and Mrs. John P. Wagner
Judge: Col. Edward McQuown
Entry: 2,397
Boxer
Ch. Baroque of
Quality Hill
1953
Owner: Mrs. Edward P. Alker
Judge: Col. Mr. Anton B. Korbel
Entry: 2,612
Welsh Terrier
Ch. Toplight Template
of Twin Ponds
1952
Owner: Mrs. Leonard Smit
Judge: Mr. George Steadman Thomas
Entry: 2,851
Wire Fox Terrier
Ch. Wyretex Wyns
Traveller of Trucote
1951
Owner: William T. Holt
Judge: Mr. Anton A. Rost
Entry: 2,568
English Setter
Ch. Rock Falls
Colonel
1950
Irish Setter Ch. Tyronne Farm Clancy
Owner: Jack A. Spear
Judge: Mr. Hugh A. Lewis
Entry: 2,587
1949
Owner: Mrs. John G. Winant
Judge: Mrs. David Wagstaff
Entry: 2,637
Scottish Terrier
Ch. Walsing
Winning Trick of Edgerstoune
1948
Bedlington
Terrier
Ch. Rock Ridge
Night Rocket
Owner: Mr. and Mrs.
William Rockefeller
Judge: Mr. Alva Rosenberg
Entry: 2,664
1947
Owners: Mr. and Mrs. William Rockefeller
Judge: Joseph C. Quirk
Entry: 2,372
Bedlington Terrier
Rock Ridge
Night Rocket
1946
Owner: Robert A. Gusman
Judge: Mrs. James Austin
Entry: 2,086
Cocker Spaniel
Ch. Benbow’s Beau
1941
Smooth Fox Terrier Ch. Nornay Saddler
Owner: James M. Austin
Judge: Enno Meyer
Entry: 3,883
"When the Fox Terrrier standard was drawn up in 1876, they closed their eyes and dreamed of Saddler," said Fox Terrier expert Winthrop Rutherford. Considered "one of the greatest and most famous dogs in the world" in his prime, "Saddler" was taken out of retirement for this show -- his third attempt at taking the big prize at Morris & Essex. His win before a crowd of 10,000 made 56 Bests in Show for Saddler -- a world record at the time.
1940
Standard Poodle
Ch. Blakeen Jung Frau
Owner: Mrs. Sherman R. Hoyt
Judge: George B. Thomas
Entry: 4,027
The finale at this 14th-annual iteration of Mrs. Dodge's famous show was so rain soaked that "what had originally been called a polo field was more a water polo field by evening," the New York Journal and American reported. Mrs. Hoyt had two contenders at this show -- her Afghan Hound Ch. Rudiki of Prides Hill won her group as well -- but in the end it was the glamorous Jung Frau who took highest honors.
1939
Cocker Spaniel Ch. My Own Brucie
Owner: Herman E. Mellenthin
Judge: William H. Pym
Entry: 4,456
1938
Owner: Leonard Collins
Judge: Harry T. Peters
Entry: 4,213
Old English Sheepdog
Ch. Ideal Weather
1937
Owner: Dwight Ellis
Judge: Dr. Samuel Milbank
Entry: 4,104
English Setter
Ch. Sturdy Max
1936
Owner: Amory L. Haskell
Judge: Dr. Henry Jarrett
Entry: 3,751
Harrier
Ch. Mr. Reynal’s Monarch
1935
Owner: Mrs. Cheever Porter
Judge: Mr. G.V. Glebe
Entry: 3,175
Irish Setter
Ch. Milson O’Boy
1934
Sealyham Terrier
Ch. Gunside Babs
of Hollybourne
Owner: S.L. Froelich
Judge: George S. Thomas
Entry: 2,827
1933
Owner: John G. Bates (pictured at right with Mrs. Dodge)
Judge: Mr. Otto Gross
Entry: 2,346
Wire Fox Terrier
Epping Eveille of Blarney
1932
Wire Fox Terrier
Ch. Lone Eagle
of Earlsmoor
Owners: Dr. and Mrs. Samuel Milbank
Judge: Mr. Frank H. Addyman
Entry: 1,577
The Terrier Group traditionally afforded the hottest competition at Morris & Essex, and 1932 was no different: Lone Eagle had a spirited contest with a Sealyham named Dabler O'Dingle of Pinegrade. Both were in "grand coat and grand condition," reported The New York Times, but the Wire Fox Terrier took the group, and, eventually, the show.
1931
Great Dane Ch. Fionne von Loheland of Walnut Hall
Owner: Harkness Edwards
Judge: Mr. Walter H. Reeves
Entry: 1,922
1930
Wire Fox Terrier Ch. Weltona Frizzette of Wildoaks
Owner: Mrs. and Mrs. R.C. Bondy
Judge: Dr. J.E. deMund
Entry: 1,507
1929
Pomeranian Ch. Little Emir
Owner: Mrs. Vincent Matta
Judge: Mr. Theodore Offerman
Entry: 1,150
1928
Sealyham Terrier Ch. Delf Discriminant of Pinegrade
Owner: Mr. and Mrs. Frederic Brown
Judge: Mr. Alfred Delmont
Entry: 920
Only one day after disembarking from the Aquitania after having been handpicked for his new owners by iconic judge and dog man Percy Roberts, "Discriminant" worked his way out of the classes at Morris & Essex, winning the Terrier Group in an upset by defeating the famous Wire Fox Terrier Ch. Talavera Margaret. White with a tan ear, he was one of many winning British dogs imported by the Pinegrade kennel of New York City.
1927
Irish Setter
Ch. Higgins' Red Pat
Owner: William W. Higgins
Judges: Messrs. Samuel G. Allen, Alfred Delmont, Harry D. Kirkover, Enno Meyer and George Owen
Entry: 595
Described by dog-show reporters of the day as "a veteran bench show campaigner" and "the dog that never seems to get old," this winning Irish Setter was a common sight - and a frequent winner - at dog shows throughout the metropolitan area in the late 1920s. His Morris & Essex win, however, was certainly his most illustrious.
Morris & Essex
Best in Show
Winners
Click the years at right to see the corresponding Morris & Essex Best in Show winner and show information.
The first Morris & Essex show was held in 1927, and the last show of Mrs. Dodge's tenure took place in 1957.
There was no Morris &Essex show held in 1954, nor were there shows during the wartime years of 1942 through 1945.
Since Mrs. Dodge's time, there have been three "modern" Morris & Essex shows, starting with the first time the show was revived in 2000. Shows have continued in five-year intervals.
The next Morris & Essex show will be held on Wednesday, October 6, 2021.
‘Morris & Essex is the world’s largest and greatest open-air show ... It takes the lead over all dog shows held in this country, and the beauty and magnificence of this show in its setting, its every appointment and its punctilious management, are beyond that of any other fixture in the world.' — Caroline Colter Cherry, Kennel Review, 1934
‘Morris & Essex. What can one say? It has an indelible imprint on the history of our sport.' — David C. Merriam, Chairman, AKC Board of Directors, 2001
Morris & Essex Kennel Club Dog Show • Wednesday, October 1, 2025 • Colonial Park, 156 Elizabeth Ave., Somerset, NJ 08873 • morrisandessex@gmail.com