Pointing toward a Westminster winner?


By Julia Szabo

Sniff the zeitgeist and you'll smell a Pointer. At Westminster, this noble Sporting breed is, quite literally, everywhere you look. That's because the aristocratic profile of a famous 19th-century lemon-and-white Pointer named Sensation graces the official Westminster logo, showing off his perfect conformation by doing what this breed does best: point.

Sensation's likeness appears all over Madison Square Garden: on gold-fringed purple bunting in the arena... on the cover of the Catalog listing all the Westminster contenders... on T-shirts... on purple and gold customized M&Ms... even on the guest-room key cards at the New Yorker Hotel, where many Westminster champs have spent the night.

Meanwhile, in Babylon, New York, the search is on for the precise location where Sensation is buried. This was the subject of an article by Joanne Anderson, whose column Pets, Pets, Pets appears in the Babylon Beacon; it's reprinted in the 2008 Westminster Guide and Record Book on pages 22-24.

According to Anderson, when Sensation died in June 1887, he was buried in front of the Westminster clubhouse, "under a flagpole with a Pointer-shaped weather vane on top." The clubhouse later moved and the exact location of Sensation's interment is not known.

"To a dog fancier, this is the equivalent of learning that King Tut's pyramid is in your backyard," writes Anderson, a regular inspector hound who's hot on the trail of old newspaper clippings, photos, and other clues, among them a 1938 aerial view of Babylon from the Smithsonian.

Anderson isn't the only one who's curious. "This is not 'Indiana Jones and the Search for the Lost Pointer: The Ark of Sensation,'" Westminster co-host David Frei told Newsday. "But we all have a sense of curiosity: It might be kind of fun to know where he is."

Could Sensation's spirit live in one of the 14 handsome Pointers shown this morning in Ring 3? Possibly Ch. Cookieland Seasyde Hollyberry, a.k.a. Holly, who won Best of Breed at 8 a.m.? Pointer lovers and fellow Pointers - including Jet, a.k.a. Ch. Malmason's Alydar Jet Ranger, who won Best of Opposite Sex - will be rooting for Holly to win the Sporting Group tonight. 
Birthday ClubNew ArrivalsBest SellersDog BedsCovers & ThrowsDog GatesGift ShopsSale Shop
Comments
Be the first to post a comment!
Post a comment
You must be a member to post comments. Please Log In or Register
Subscribe to this Blog
What does this mean?

Featured Dog Beds at FetchDog :