2019 Drake Beautiful Bulldog Contest: Who took home the honors?
The 2019 Drake Beautiful Bulldog Contest was held Monday night. Who took home the prizes?
The 2019 Drake Beautiful Bulldog Contest presented by Sammons Financial Group was held Monday, April 22, at the Knapp Center in Des Moines, Iowa, to crown the top English Bulldog in the land. (Drake’s sports teams are known as the Bulldogs, and compete in the Missouri Valley Conference.)
Beau was crowned in front of 3,000 spectators as the winner of the 2019 Drake Beautiful Bulldog Contest, over a field of forty competitors and nearly two hundred qualifiers. This was the 40th year of the contest.
There were three judges to make their selections: former Drake basketball player Aliou Keta, disc jockey Nadia Valentine of local rock radio station LAZER 103.3 FM, and Gideon Kidd of I’ve Pet That Dog.
As the winner of the contest, Beau will be the honorary ambassadog of the 2019 Drake Relays presented by Hy-Vee track meet, which runs from Wednesday, April 24 to Saturday, April 27. He will also star in promotional material for the 2020 Drake Relays.
“We’re so excited to be a part of this. We were surprised when he won, and we’re deeply honored,” Beau’s owner TJ McKenzie said on the Drake website. TJ and his wife Angela are both Drake graduates.
According to Angela, Beau enjoys short walks and long naps, and snacking on peanut butter, pizza crusts and grilled salmon.
Other Bulldogs got to shine as well:
GiGi won the Family Theme costume costume contest as she and her owner dressed as chef Wolfgang Puck. Goose won the Porterhouse Choice Award, voted on by audience members. Sparkle claimed the Congeniality Award, while Stella was the 2019 Rescue Dog.
A different dog named Stella Rose came second runner-up and and took the Drake Spirit Award, while first runner-up went to Watson, who claimed the Best Dressed Award.
Next. Bass Pro Dog Days coming April 27. dark
The official Drake mascot, Griff, held a pet food drive in conjunction with the event, which raised more than 13,000 pounds of pet food for Pet Project Midwest, a central Iowa-based nonprofit.