Portrait of Orca, 2023 Best in Show winner, presented at Crufts 2024

A portrait of last year's Crufts Best in Show winner, Am GCh Kan Trace Very Cheeky Chic, a Lagotto Romagnolo, known at home as Orca, was unveiled at Crufts 2024 on Friday 8 March in the Resorts World Arena at the NEC, Birmingham.

Artist Anne Zoutsos presented the painting to Crufts Chairman, Tom Mather, in front of thousands of spectators in the arena. Anne and Tom were joined for the presentation by the proud owners of Orca, Sabina Zdunić Šinković and Ante Lucin, alongside Javier Gonzalez Mendikote who handled Orca in the Best in Show final.

Following the presentation, Sabina and Ante took home the original portrait and a limited-edition print was transported to London to become part of The Kennel Club Art Collection and will soon be on display.

Anne Zoutsos is a full-time artist and has painted professionally for over 30 years. Anne is based in Guildford, Surrey and her work, including paintings of wild animals and dog portraiture, can be found in collections all over the world.

Speaking after the presentation, Anne said: "It was a huge honour to be asked to paint the 2023 Crufts Best in Show winner. This was my seventh such painting and I always try to add special little details to each one.

"The 2023 winner was a Lagotto Romagnolo, a breed previously unfamiliar to many people in Britain, although Orca will be hard to forget with her joie de vivre in the show ring. Lagotti were originally bred in the area of Delta del Po in Italy, and latterly they have been trained to be very successful truffle hunters. Deciding that truffles didn't make a great subject to include, I settled on painting Orca with a background of Delta del Po and added a thin collar with a little Orca pendant round her neck. It was an absolute pleasure painting such a pretty little dog."

Crufts took place from 7 - 10 March 2024 at the NEC, Birmingham. For more information and results from the show, visit crufts.org.uk.