DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Lucey, an 18-month old pooch from Waukee, Iowa, has beaten out 49 drooling competitors to take this year’s “Beautiful Bulldog” pageant. Monday’s tongue-in-cheek event is designed to kick off the weeklong Drake Relays, an internationally-renowned track and field event in Des Moines.

Lucey’s owner, Tiffany Torstenson of nearby Waukee, Iowa, is a surgeon at the Mercy Katzmann Breast Center. Torstenson said she often takes Lucey to work. She says Lucey’s demeanor around doctors and patients helped convinced her human family that she’d make a perfect therapy dog.

Lucey was certainly a hit with the crowd at Drake’s Knapp Center, besting a pair of boys named Lord Nelson and Zuul to capture top honors.