• 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