NEW YORK | Matisse the Portuguese water dog with White House connections is one step closer to the best in show title at the Westminster Kennel Club.
Matisse won Tuesday in the breed judging round for the third straight year. He advances to the working group competition Tuesday night, and the champion will be picked around 11 p.m.
The 3 1-2-year-old Matisse is among the top-winning show dogs of all-time and ranked No. 1 in America last year. He’s also a cousin of President Barack Obama’s family pet Sunny.
The working, terrier and sporting champs will be chosen Tuesday night. Already in the best-of-seven final ring are old English sheepdog Swagger, who finished second at Westminster in 2013, and a shih tzu owned by Patty Hearst, the heiress whose 1974 kidnaping became a political flash point.
A 15-inch beagle and a standard poodle also are in the last ring.