Who was victorious at the 2020 Masters Agility Championship?
The 2020 Masters Agility Championship had a new channel this year thanks to the Tampa Bay Vipers-New York Guardians XFL football game on Fox following Daytona 500 pole qualifying.
So coverage moved to Fox Sports 1, only to be delayed for half an hour due to NHRA drag racing running late because of weather.
But finally the action got started from Pier 94 in New York City in the 2020 Masters Agility Championship at Westminster presented by Purina Pro Plan, the seventh year this companion event has been held.
Calling the play by play on the broadcast were John Strong and Terry Simons, with Jen Hale providing sideline commentary.
While the handlers are an integral part of the sport of dog agility, for the sake of time we are only going to list the names of the dogs in this recap.
8-inch
The action started in the 8-inch class with a 12-year-old All American Dog (mutt) named Logan, who posted a clean run of 40.23 seconds. A Papillon named Fortune then blazed through the course at a clean 36.73 seconds. They were both running at the preferred 4-inch height.
2018 class champion Pink the Papillon posted one of the only other flawless runs of the class at 37.55, along with a Pembroke Welsh Corgi named Gwendolline at 43.30.
Running with faults were, in order, Carly Rae the Poodle (61.64 + 20), a therapy dog in Pickles the Scottie (46.75 + 5), Cassion the Miniature American Shepherd (42.58 + 30), the only male in the class in Bexar the Havanese (50.52 + 10), Razzberry the Bichon Friese (52.46 + 5) and 2016 class champ Wren the Papillon (38.83 + 5).
So Fortune was favored by Lady Luck to complete the course in the fastest time.
12-inch
The 12-inch class at the 2020 Masters Agility Championship did not feature any dogs running at the preferred 8-inch height, and it was claimed by the final competitor to run in Pixel the Miniature American Shepherd at 36.40 seconds to make it back-to-back crowns.
The only other clean runs were from Bullet the Danish Swedish Farmdog at 39.10 and Trek the Shetland Sheepdog at 46.30.
Those with faults included, in order, Decker the Chinese Crested Dog (54.00 + 10), a Cocker Spaniel named Tinkerbell who flunked out of her original hunting dog training because she was scared of guns (52.87 + 25, she also managed to completely dismantle a jump), Darby the Boston Terrier (42.33 + 5), Pre the Poodle (34.00 + 5), Jeter the AAD (48.06 + 5), Prix the Manchester Terrier (50.80 + 15), and a dog of uncertain breed named Pink (42.64 + 25).
16-inch
The 16-inch class ultimately had the most personality, thought it was crushed by Pink the Border Collie, who claimed the class for the third consecutive year at 29.35 seconds.
Other clean runs belonged to Streak the Sheltie (35.29), Lira the Aussie (36.85), the sightseeing Rat Terrier Ferris B (42.44), Joey the Cocker Spaniel (44.26), 11-year-old Cameo the All-American (45.90) and the highly technical Loyal the Miniature American Shepherd at 46.99.
Faulting were last year’s class runner-up Boss the Sheltie (35.22 + 5), Liberty the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever (36.88 + 10) and Fern the Springer Spaniel (41.93 + 5).
20-inch
Just two clean runs were posted in the 20-inch class, the first of the night to run. These were Carly the Golden Retriever at 38.44 seconds, who was immediately bested by Lili Ann the Australian Shepherd at 35.04.
Other dogs running with faults were, in order, Twix the Rottweiler (38.25 + 10), Atty the Dalmatian (49.15 + 15), the all-white Nanuk the Husky (41.29 + 10), Tag the Labrador (39.04 + 10) and the Border Collie trio of Graphene (36.99 + 5), Cru (35.24 + 10) and reigning champ Verb (35.14 + 5).
Many of these faults came from course miscorrection due to a tricky left-right combo right out of the tunnel near the exit, leading to results like the first-ever Charlotte ROVAL NASCAR Cup Series event.
24-inch
The 24-inch class was captured by a trash-talking 9-year-old Golden appropriately named Punk, who never stopped barking during his 36.05-second run.
The only other clean run in this class was Ava the Irish Setter at 46.32.
Others with faults were 2017 class champ Kaboom the Border Collie (33.25), Belgian Tervuren Kira completely skipped the teeter-totter entirely (41.37 + 20), 9-year-old obedience and lure-coursing athlete Mason the Dalmatian (43.41 + 20), Maya the Beauceron (44.02 + 15) bulldozed her way through the weave poles, Shamu the Poodle was here for the fifth time (44.16 + 5), and Cushla the Red and White Irish Setter (54.57 + 5).
The 2020 Masters Agility Championship will be remembered for Lobo’s turn, however. The striking Husky moseyed his way through the course, even taking a toy break halfway through before posting the astonishingly slow time of 76.32 + 60.
The five class champions – Fortune, Lili Ann, Pink, Pixel, and Punk – then had their total yardage covered divided by their runtime, with the result that Pink emerged as the Grand Champion for the second year in a row.
The 2020 WKC Dog Show will air its first half on Fox Sports 1 on Monday, February 10 at 7:30 p.m. ET. Stay with Dog O’Day for more coverage of the event, including why it’s special.