Westminster Dog Show: Live Updates From Best in Show - The New York Times

Sarah Lyall and Kris Rhim.

The preliminary rounds were held in outdoor rings and the group and Best in Show rounds were staged in a large tent filled with a small but enthusiastic number of dog fanciers.

The largest cheers of the evening were reserved for Striker, a charismatic and blindingly white Samoyed who was one of the seven group winners.

Sarah Lyall.

In an upset (to this group of armchair experts who all fell in love with a big fluffy white dog named Striker), Trumpet the bloodhound took care of the competition and won Best in Show.

Sarah Lyall.

Sarah Lyall.

Sarah Lyall.

Sarah Lyall.

Sarah Lyall.

Sarah Lyall.

Sarah Lyall?

Sarah Lyall.

Sarah Lyall.

Sarah Lyall.

Sarah Lyall?

MM, a Lakeland terrier, won the terrier group title.

MM, which has fur covering its forehead that looks as if it’s impending vision, is the fifth Lakeland terrier to win the group.

The terrier group has dominated Westminster, with 47 Best in Show winners, the most of any other group.

This is the first group victory by a Lakeland terrier in over 40 years, with the last win coming in 1980.

If MM wins Best in Show, it will be the second terrier win in the last four Westminster shows, and the first overall win by a Lakeland terrier since 1976.

Sarah Lyall.

Sarah Lyall.

I can’t tell you how many times the fighter pilots in “Top Gun 2” are referred to as “the best of the best.” That is exactly what the announcer here has just called the seven group winners, who are just about the enter the ring for the final showdown.

Sarah Lyall.

Sarah Lyall.

Sarah Lyall.

Tonight’s Best in Show judge — the kingmaker — is “a delegate to the American Kennel Club for the Poodle Club of America,” as well as a member of the Bull Terrier Club of America.

Sarah Lyall.

Sarah Lyall.

Benjamin Hoffman.

Matt Flegenheimer.

Kris Rhim?

Sarah Lyall.

Benjamin Hoffman.

Sarah Lyall.

Michael Grynbaum.

Sarah Lyall.

Matt Flegenheimer.

Matt Flegenheimer?

Sarah Lyall.

Kris Rhim.

Striker, a Samoyed, won the working group, advancing to Best in Show.

Kris Rhim.

Sarah Lyall.

On our team this evening: Myself, Kris Rhim, Michael Grynbaum, Matt Flegenheimer, Rebecca Ruiz and Benjamin Hoffman.

Sarah Lyall.

Benjamin Hoffman

Four of the seven group winners were decided on Tuesday, with three more to be determined tonight

Keep an eye on the terrier category tonight, as the winner from that group often goes on to win Best in Show

Sarah Lyall

The 200 or so breed winners advance to compete against similar breeds in the group finals

The seven group winners then vie for the big prize: Best in Show, which will be judged by Don Sturz of Brooklyn

That group has won 47 Best in Show prizes, far ahead of the second-placed sporting group with 18

An earlier version of this blog item misstated when the winners of the working, sporting and terrier groups would be awarded

Benjamin Hoffman

The New York Times will be providing live coverage of Wednesday’s group finals and the awarding of Best in Show, with commentary, analysis and photos from Lyndhurst

At 7:30, judging will begin in the finals for three undecided groups — sporting, working and terrier — with those champions competing against four group winners from Tuesday for Best in Show