Owned by 8-year-old Delaney Schroeder of Orange, California, Sally the dachshund pulled the biggest surprise in the 12-year history of the Wienerschnitzel Wiener Nationals, as she defeated Corrie Cockle's Bailey Graf of Garden Grove in front of a record crowd to win the 2008 running of this PUP-ular event.

In her first appearance ever in the Wiener Nationals, Sally never figured to be among the doxies to beat going into the final after struggling in the practice runs prior to the event. Perhaps that was part of her game plan, as she hoped to sneak up on the competition. If it was, it worked, as she was simply terrific in her trial and final on the way to the championship. Her prize package included the faux diamond encrusted bling necklace, a crystal trophy for being "The Fastest Wiener in the West, $1,000 cash and a doghouse in the A-frame of a Wienerschnitzel restaurant.

Wienerschnitzel's popular mascot, The Delicious One, presented the bling to Sally and Delaney in the winner's circle at Los Alamitos. Sally covered the 50-yard distance in slightly over 7 seconds to become the third straight female dachshund to win the Wienerschnitzel Wiener Nationals. Male dachshunds won the first nine runnings of the event.

"We are in shock," said Delaney's mother, Hope. "We came out to the practice runs and Sally never even ran. She couldn't even get out of the gate. Sally turned 2-year-ods today, so this is a great birthday present to herself. Maybe she was feeling extra good. The prize money is going into Delaney's college fund."

A record paid attendance of 8,731 attended this year's event. When you count children 17 and under, which are free to enter the Los Alamitos racing oval, the estimated total attendance was closer to 12,000, which is also a record. A total of 87 dachshunds competed in the event, which consisted of 11 preliminary races plus the championship race. The purpose of the event is to raise funds for the Seal Beach Animal Care Center, a non-profit, no-kill shelter dedicated to finding homes for stray animals in the Orange County area. This year's event raised a record of more than $20,000 through ticket pre-sales and t-shirt and cap sales on the night of the event.

"We sold every T-shirt. We sold every cap. We've never done that before," said Jim Welsch, the President of the Seal Beach Animal Care Center. "It was total sellout. We're thrilled. We had an empty table at the end of the night. Things were going so great that we almost sold the table."

Los Alamitos Race Course, which donates tickets and T-shirts to the Seal Beach Center for their fund raising efforts, also donated $2,500 cash to the shelter this year. Over the years, the Seal Beach Animal Care Center has raised $150,000 thanks to the Wienerschnitzel Wiener Nationals.

Bailey Graf finished second for the second straight year. She earned $400 for owners Brian and Corrie Cockle. Owned by Len Jones of Corona Del Mar, Willie finished a very close third, as he was gaining on top two finishers. Other trial winners that raced in the championship were: Porsche (owned by Susan Duzey of Orange); Bingo (Sarah Dale of Studio City); Sadie (The Craigmyles of La Verne); Kamakazi Ozzie (Jane Rosenberg of Orange); Brooklyn (Laura Jo Meadows of San Pedro); Cannoli Spicoli Corleone (Jill McCall of Burbank); and Matthew Rengel (Las Vegas, Nevada).

Defending champion Princess Smoochy Gucci failed to become the first back-to-back winner in the Wiener Nationals after running second to Bailey Graf in the trials. Sadie became only the third dachshund to make it to the final race three years in a row. Her best finish was a tie for second in 2005.

Race organizers have already started planning for the 2008 Wienerschnitzel Wiener Nationals. For more information on how to enter a dachshund to next year's race, e-mail the Los Alamitos Race Course Marketing Department at larace@losalamitos.com.