Trish Ausilio’s Penny Lane won the 16th annual Wienerschnitzel Wiener Nationals for the second straight year following a convincing victory in the 50-yard championship dash for dachshunds in front of a crowd of more than 10,000 people Saturday night at Los Alamitos Race Course.
A total of 97 dachshunds competed in this year’s event which helps raise money for the Seal Beach Animal Care Center. This year’s event helped raise $20,000 through the sale of event tickets, t-shirts and hats. This event has raised more than $220,000 for the Seal Beach Animal Care Center since 1996. Penny Lane is a 4-year-old tan doxie from Buena Park.
, California, beat Mr. Schnitzel, owned by Luis and Lois Hernandez of Newbury Park, to defend her title as “Fastest Wiener Dog In the West.”
Penny Lane won a red and yellow colored dog house in the shape of the Wienerschnitzel original A-frame restaurant structure and also a $1,000 cash prize. Penny Lane will now compete in the national finals to be held in San Diego later this year.
“This is Penny Lane’s second dog house, so she’ll have a two-story house now,” Ausilio said.
Penny Lane’s chances to defend her title did not look good halfway through her trial race. Racing from post number six, the lady doxie trailed Huntington Beach’s Gypsy by a couple of strides.
Penny Lane made her winning move in the final couple of yards and barely nipped Gypsy at the finish line. It was all Penny Lane in the final, as she was on her game while defeating a field that included the 2009 champion Presley.
The victory could not have come at a better time for Ausilio, as she had fallen on hard times financially recently.
“I was down to my last $25,” she said. “You don’t know what this means to me.”
Penny Lane certainly means the world to Ausilio, as she’s well known in her hometown for having birthday parties for her prized wiener dog at a local park.
“I invite a lot of family and friends and we just have a fun time,” she added.
The party will keep on rolling now that Penny Lane is the champion once again.
Mr. Schnitzel, who posted the most impressive win of the trials, ran a super race to finish second and her $500. Also qualifying to the championship race were Deanna Richardson’s Hildegarde of Mission Viejo, Pamela Carson’s Handsome Fritz or Temecula, Dorian and Gianna Heatherly’s Jordan of Dana Point, Amy Caetta’s Presley of Placentia, Jason and Laura Hahn’s Ringo of Glendora, Jess, Sheli and Ashley Jones’ Coco of Seal Beach, Barbara Wainer’s Max of Corona and Denise and Chris Miesner’s Mila of San Diego.
Presley is only the fifth dachshund to compete in three championship runnings from among the 1,048 doxies that have raced in the 16-year history of the race.
