Wesley A. Ward

Birthdate: March 3, 1968

Birthplace: Selah, Wash.

Family: wife, Kimberly; children Riley, Jack and Denae

Ward, the son of Washington trainer Dennis Ward and grandson of New York outrider Jim Dailey, reached the 1,000-win plateau in September 2011.

Wesley Ward took out his trainer's license in 1991 after ending a successful career as a jockey in 1989, which included an Eclipse Award as outstanding apprentice in 1984.

Ward's first career stakes win and graded stakes win came with Unfinished Nymph in the 1994 Will Rogers Handicap.

Ward has earned a reputation as a master with 2-year-olds.

In 2009, Ward made history when on his first trip to England he became the first American trainer to win at Royal Ascot. Of the five 2-year-olds he shipped, two won: Windsor Castle Stakes winner Strike the Tiger, a gelding he bred and owned in partnership; and Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes winner Jealous Again, also owned in partnership. In 2013, he won the Norfolk Stakes with No Nay Never before shipping the 2-year-old colt back to Europe for the Prix Morny, a race he also won. In 2014, Ward won at Royal Ascot with Hootenanny and finished second in another race with Sunset Glow.

Ward has won three Breeders' Cup races to date, capturing the Juvenile Turf with Hootenanny and Filly and Mare Sprint with Judy the Beauty both in 2014 and the Juvenile Turf Sprint with Four Wheel Drive in 2019.