The Great Ones – The Sealyham Terrier · Ch. St. Margaret Magnificent of Clairedale

Click here to read the complete article
116 – August, 2021

By Kerrin Winter-Churchill

Lightning never strikes twice.” So, the saying goes, but in terms of the great Westminster dog show, lightning most certainly did strike twice, twenty-eight years apart. The first time was when Mrs. Claire Knapp Penney’s English import Sealyham Terrier won top honors at the 60th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in 1936. The second time was in 1964, when Mrs. Penney’s daughter the late, Mrs. Margaret Newcombe (AKC judge and active until her death as a Whippet breeder and exhibitor) followed in her mother’s footsteps as her sensational Whippet — also imported from England — was crowned Best In Show at the 88th Westminster KC show. Although time and space separate the two legendary events, this story begins in a year when dogs and humans of folklore and legend walked the earth on the down and back, gathering ribbons and silver wherever they went.

By the winter of 1935, the great Standard Poodle, Int. Ch. Nunsoe Duc de la Terrace of Blakeen had already managed to make a famous name for himself. The Poodle had been a gift from mother to daughter and was both owned and presented in the ring by the very elegant Mrs. Hayes Blake Hoyt. Rubbing shoulders with the great male handlers of the day, Mrs. Hoyt held her own, piloting the Duc to a Group First in 1934, repeating this feat the next year, and sailing all the way to Best In Show honors at the 1935 Westminster. Having reached such heights, Mrs. Hoyt retired the dog, opening space on the Best In Show floor for some other worthy contenders. And boy, were they worthy!

At about this same time, a gorgeous red setter with the exclamatory name of O’Boy was making himself known. Guided by the profoundly good dogman Harry Hartnett, Ch. Milson O’Boy was the whirlwind of the day. The rollicking red turned heads, evoking applause and collecting diehard fans whenever he appeared. With his effortless, ground-covering movement and captivating presence, almost everyone who saw O’Boy fell under his spell. “Oh, I loved that dog,” said Mrs. Newcombe, who was a young teenager helping her famous mother at shows when she first saw the Irish Setter. Mrs. Newcombe adds, “He was way ahead of his time, and there will never be another one like him. He had charisma. You’d be standing there, watching the dogs in the ring, and suddenly you’d find yourself cheering for O’Boy.”

O’Boy did have charisma, and he was beloved by the press who wrote so much about the red Setter that he became a sort of doggy America’s sweetheart, his fame growing with every new win. The Irish lads, Hartnett and O’Boy, kicked off their 1935 season by winning Best of Breed, Group 1st and Best American-bred Dog in Show at Westminster. (This title was then given each year to honor those dogs born and bred in the United States. These were the days that European bloodlines still dominated the sport and the AKC was serious about promoting its American breeders.) Later that same year, O’Boy would take his greatest victory by sweeping the competition at the May 1935 Morris and Essex Kennel Club dog show. Of O’Boy’s grand day of victory, Irish Setter breeder and judge, Dr. Calhoon wrote, “O’Boy showed wonderfully, responding to every wish of his talented handler, and with his usual gay spirit, he ate up the gallery applause going better and better. That day, Champion Milson O’Boy won the praise and respect of amateurs and professionals alike, making it clear that he knew what he was there for. When the judge motioned the winner to the center of the ring, it was that wonderful, beautiful Irish Setter— Milson O’Boy.”

Notable Greats

Click here to read the complete article
116 – August, 2021

Short URL: https://caninechronicle.com/?p=208673

Posted by AnthonyA on Aug 12 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.