2025 Corgi Races: Milo Benz, Wrong Way Loki & GG face off in RACE OF CHAMPIONS 🏆 | ESPN8: The Ocho

Welcome to Emerald Downs in Auburn, Washington. Today we are celebrating one of the fastest growing sports in the nation, corgi racing. I'm meteorologist Alex Wilson from the Weather Channel with track announcer Tom Harris. This is gonna be an awesome day. Alex, it's great to be back here with you. We've got corgis from all over the country here to compete with our local dogs here in the Northwest. They got small legs, but they're really fast and they're a lot of fun to watch. And as you've mentioned, they've traveled from far. In fact, our defending champ is back. That's right. We've got the speedy corgi from Wisconsin, Milo Bigglesworth, who was dominant last year, should have won this race in 2023, but he got distracted just before the finish line. Milo's quickly becoming a corgi racing legend after winning the Canterbury Park Race Championship back to back years. Milo is definitely one to one. Yeah, if he wins this race, he will likely be considered the goat of corgis. Tom Brady, Michael Jordan, and what? Milo Bigglesworth? Milo Bigglesworth, they'll have to retire his number. I think so. Well, as defending champ, he's automatically in the final. So we're gonna see him later today, but there are plenty of fast corgis entered into our qualifying heats today. And now let's take a look at some of your top contenders. Well, we've got all of the finals from last year back, except for one, and that includes 23 championship winner, Milo Benz, and 2022 championship winner, Wrong Way Loki. Now, the big threat may be coming from San Francisco as April Villacampa sends Tony. Tony was a back-to-back winner of the 49ers, K-9ers Corgi Race Cup Championship. This is gonna be a dandy. We also had 18 qualifiers yesterday, including Gustaf, the racing dog, who was spectacular, and Bonk, who came to us from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They could be big factors. Yes, we've got nine heats with each winner advancing to the finals. Today's races are presented in support of the Alzheimer's Association. We also wanna thank the Muffleshoot Tribe, who own and operate Emerald Downs. The corgis are parading to the starting line for the first five heats. The distance is 45 yards, and each corgi has two humans on their team, one to release and one to encourage them to run to the finish. Well, it's shaping up to be an exciting day, so let's dive into the races and see which dogs secure their spots in the championship race. All right, Tom, you're gonna go call those races. Let's get to it. We are ready, Alex, and the corgis look ready as well as we have the field for heat number one approaching the start line as we get ready to kick things off here. All right, Emerald Downs, are we ready to get things started? Let's check in with Alex. I am here with Milo Benz, previous winner. So in 2023, Milo took it. Last year, he got outran. What have you done here in the year? Well, he seems ready to go. Yeah, we just made sure that he runs straight and not turning around as well. Yeah, I guess that's always a key. All right, Milo, you ready? All right, let's see how he does. All right, Tom, we are ready. All right, last-minute words from the Milo Benz connections. Here we go for heat number one. Flag is up, and corgis away. And a quick start middle of the racetrack. All business down there. That was Milo Benz. Wow, he hasn't lost a step. Here's another look at it. Look at the stride. Milo Benz puts daylight on the field. Time to go trackside to Alex. I don't think Milo got rusty at all during the offseason. No, Nick, we were talking to you before the race. You said, what we need to do is just have him run straight, and he had no issues. Yep, yeah, he has the speed. It's just him being focused and making sure that he crosses the finishing line. All right, so what are we gonna be doing in between the championship race? Because now he wants to take his title back. Yeah, right now we're just gonna rest and sit back and relax. All right, well, Milo, right now you need to rest, all right? All right, we will see you in the championship. Congratulations. Thank you, thank you. Congratulations to the winning Connections, Milo Benz. Straight as an arrow, right to the finish. As we get set for heat number four. Flag is up, and corgis away. Zeus broke well, wrong way. Loki as well, middle of the racetrack. We had one jump up in the final jumps there. Zeus was running a big race from that outside post position. We'll let the officials once again, sort everything out. Let's head track side. Here's Alex with the winner. Yeah, I'm with Lillian now. Wrong way, Loki, who is a crowd favorite. He's kind of a legend, I feel like, here at Emerald Downs. Very famous for going the wrong way, but then he turned it around and actually won. Yeah, now he's going to be famous for losing his bandana. He always seems to have a little bit of flair. Is he like that at home too? Yeah, he's dramatic. Well, he's cute, he's a winner. What made you decide to come back and try to, you know, re-defend his championship? He doesn't give up. He'll be here, as long as you'll take him. Competitive field lining up for the eighth. All right, they stand at the ready. Flag is up and Corgi's away. Another good start here from the outs. Oh, we've got another close race. Little activity going on there in the final jumps, but it looked like Finn. Finn got kind of bounced around a little bit, but maybe to his advantage. And we'll take another look at it. Milo and Finn going at it. Milo may have bounced off there, got the edge. We'll wait for the official word. All right, Alex, there was a lot of action in that race. Milo and Finn kind of bumping each other around just before the finish, but Finn got the job done. Yes, and Lydia and Kyle have told me that Finn is another repeat contestant. So won his heat two years ago. Last year missed the cut, but back to join the star-studded finale. We're very excited. I saw him get a little distracted, but he focused back in and he made it. We're super excited. I noticed that a lot of his competitors have things like a ball or the fetch. His encouragement's a little different. He went with whipped cream this year. It's his favorite and he did a good job, so he's gonna get a lot of it. All right, well, hopefully we can shake up that whipped cream real good and keep his attention. Guys, we'll see you in the championship again. Tom, a previous contender back to try to steal the crown. We are certainly seeing a lot of familiar names today, and it's gonna make for a great championship race. And here are the Corgis for the final heat of the day. The ninth heat and a couple of scratches, so we have a field of 10 to go postward here. The Corgis are at the mark. Flag is up. And Corgis away. Very good race. Kibble looking strong. Wargie right there. Another competitive race right to the finish. We had a closer in the middle of the pack. Coming up in the final yards. Alex, you know, yesterday, Gustaf the Girl Dog surprised the field and qualified to be here today. And Gustaf looking good. Yes, Alicia and Dustin, her owners, they came to the qualifying heats. What made you decide to put her in the race? She just loves to run. It's just a fun event and we thought we'd give it a shot. All right, you got a whole fan crew behind you, but what you also have is the tent talking. She's fast and they know it. She is fast. Like I said, she just loves to run, so you just let her do what she wants. This is like a movie script. We have all the heavy hitters of Corgi races, past champions, past heat winners, some legendary dogs. This is truly gonna be a race for the ages. Now, we've also got last year's winner here, previous year, and the previous year winner. So they're all gonna be racing. We all remember Milo Bigglesworth and his big red egg. You guys got the vibe because obviously he won last year. You've been watching a lot of talent here in the earlier races. What are you guys thinking going into this championship? Wow, it's amazing seeing that many champions, former champions come. This is gonna be an awesome race. Milo's very last race, so what a way to go out with all these winners. So it's official, Milo is gonna retire. Yep, he is eight years old and well-deserved retirement. I love it. Now, is he at all worried? There has been a lot of talk about Gigi. She's the new kind of kid on the block and she's fast. What do you think going into, do you think he's still got the legs for it? He's got it. We'll see if he can use it today. All right, well, good luck. Hey, this is the last time we're ever gonna see Milo's Bigglesworth on the track. So Tom, we're gonna toss it up to you. We're gonna let him get to the starting line. I cannot wait to see who takes this. The excitement is building as we get ready for the 2025 Corgi World Championship Race. A talented cast of 11 will race off the mark. All right, the encouragers are taking their position and the Corgis heading to the start line for the championship race. Here we go, are you ready for the 2025 Corgi Championship? Flag is up and Corgi's away. On the inside, Gustaf, the Girl Dog. Gustaf Gigi in a shocking performance played the role of giant killer today. Let's look at this replay. Gigi out front and won it handily. She was a last minute entry into this race. She qualified yesterday, made the cut for today and today she takes down the champions. Let's catch up to Alex in the winner's circle. Yeah, Tom, this was an incredible race packed with talent but ultimately it was the newcomer who took the title. Gigi, the Girl Dog, hi, doesn't even seem tired. You guys decided to put her in the race yesterday to see if she could play into the championship. Now she's won it. She's always been quick, we just had to let her go. It's all her. What's it like being around all this talent? The last three years of champions, obviously repeated heat winners and you guys took the title. Well, they definitely are scared but you know, it's just up to her. She just had a good time. She wasn't scared though, right? No, no, no, just here for fun. All right, so what is, she's got the trophy but what is her treat at home? What's she gonna get to celebrate? She's got a big ice cream treat at home ready to go. Nice frozen treat. Perfect for a day like today. All right, are you guys coming back next year? I think so. You're gonna defend your title. Are you guys all coming back next year? All right, Tom, this was the most talented final we've ever had. I can't wait to see what we've got in 2026. Hope you guys enjoy the championship. We'll see you next year.