The Great Ones – Eng./Am. Ch. Courtenay Fleetfoot of Pennyworth

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118 – May, 2021

By Kerrin Winter-Churchill

Today, everyone in dogs has heard of the Hound known as the Whippet, but there was a time when he was known by only a handful of people in America. All of this changed on February 11, 1964, when a “dark horse,” known by the press as “Fleetfoot” and by his friends as “Ricky,” swept the competition, toppling the obvious favorites and winning legions of fans for the breed when he took Best In Show at the 1964 Westminster Kennel Club dog show. There are many longtime breeders today who will tell you, “I saw my first Whippet when Fleetfoot won the Garden.”

For hundreds of converts, it was love at first sight. By March of that year, Fleetfoot was on the lips of many a judge within the fancy, and within a very short time this agile athlete of a hound had captured the eye and taken the breath away from many a dog man and woman, mesmerized by the perfect symmetry and balance of his fawn and white body as he glided across the ring.

In Ricky, a Whippet phenomenon was born, and of course it all began with a dream.

“Best In Show” is that elusive title which most of us silently dream will one day grace a dog of our ownership, and it’s a fantasy that is far easier to imagine than to bring forth into reality for the glory of highest achievement. For most, grasping a clear, high vision is difficult without a personal reference, someone to frame the dream and guide the journey.

In this, the late, AKC judge and lifelong Whippet breeder Margaret Newcombe (known to her friends as Peggy), owner of Fleetfoot, was lucky. Her mother was a very successful breeder and judge, going on to great wins with several different breeds, years before her daughter’s own grand victory at the very same show of shows. Although the story of Peggy’s mother will be shared in a future edition of The Great Ones, a brief summary of Claire Knapp Penny’s lifelong rendezvous with dogs is that of her Sealyham Terrier “Benji” winning Best In Show at Westminster in 1936.

Peggy grew up with her mother’s famous kennel of Chow Chows. Later, as a family they became immersed in Sealyham Terriers and Peggy learned to strip a terrier’s coat from the top dog men of that era. But Peggy was frustrated with all the coat care and really wanted to find a “wash and wear” breed that she could call her own. It was during the 1940s, that with her mother’s encouragement, Peggy registered the kennel name “Pennyworth” and began seeking her own, ideal breed and soon fate came knocking. While attending the Ladies Kennel Club dog show, Margaret (Peggy) spotted a sight that was instantly and forever emblazoned in her memory. “I saw this very distinguished woman walking with two very sleek hounds and I thought, ‘What gorgeous dogs, and isn’t she attractive!’ I went over to one of my handler friends and asked him what kind of dogs they were and he said, ‘Those are Whippets. There aren’t very many around, but she’s very famous for them—she’s Marjorie Anderson of the Mardomere Kennels of Glenhead, Long Island. “And so, I went over and introduced myself to Mrs. Anderson and we became fast friends. There was a huge age difference, but it didn’t matter; we really liked each other. To this day, she’s such a huge influence on the breed. She must have seen the good in me, because she allowed me to have two of her dogs, and they were my first Whippets.”

Pennyworth Is Born

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118 – May, 2021

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Posted by AnthonyA on May 17 2021. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.