Twelve years have passed since trainer Wesley Ward's first Royal Ascot starter, though his memory of the Ascot race, and those that followed, endure.
Ken and Sarah Ramsey's Cannonball gave him his first experience of the prestigious British meet, finishing sixth of 15 in the 2009 King's Stand Stakes (G1). The Catienus 4-year-old mustered a rally from last, making up ground too late over the final furlong.
"He finished in the middle of a pack, and I was looking around, and all these people were dressed with top hats and tails, and the ladies were just—you know, you'd swear they were going to the Queen's ball and not to the horse races—and I thought I'm in the wrong place," Ward recalled in a video interview from England June 10. "I thought, what did I get into here? I'm at the deep end of the pool. And, you know, I needed to be on the first step in the shallow water."
Ward's self-doubt didn't have long to linger. Less than two and a half hours later, his trainee, Ray Sainz and Mitch Dutko's Strike the Tiger, lasted by a neck in the Windsor Castle Stakes under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez. It marked the beginning of Ward's breakthrough Ascot success.
"It was sort of unreal. I didn't really realize that I wanted (to win at) such a big meet like this," Ward recalled. "I was thanking God I won, and then the following day, Jealous Again won the Queen Mary (G2) by several lengths. It was like, wow! This is great; this is really something. I got so lucky to accomplish something like this, and it just opened up—it's opened up a lot of doors for me."
Even Cannonball nearly found the mark when wheeled back four days later after his initial try in 2009, running second in the Golden Jubilee Stakes (G1).
Since Strike the Tiger's first victory in 2009, Ward has continued to pile up the Royal Ascot victories, totaling 11, with most of his wins with 2-year-olds.
His Royal Ascot success, unprecedented for an American trainer, has made Ward a semi-well-known American in England, where racing remains one of its most popular sports. Ward remembers being recognized by a cab driver after he asked him to go to Ascot.
"The guy turns around. 'Oh! Wesley, who you like today?'" he said. "Everybody bets. The whole country."
Watch: Ward on Royal Ascot Experience, His Runners This Year
Last year, Ward again captured the Queen Mary with Stonestreet Stables' Campanelle in a performance that still leaves the trainer amazed, knowing she had won a maiden race at Gulfstream Park just three weeks earlier. Further travel presented a challenge, with the filly needing to fly from Florida to Amsterdam before vanning to England. (Two months later, the Ward runner became a group 1 winner in France.)
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Campanelle, who won before a fanless grandstand last year amid COVID-19, giving Ward his fourth Queen Mary victory, is again back. Also returning onsite is Ward, who needed to stay in America last year due to the pandemic. He traveled to England June 5.
Unraced since a fourth-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T), her first loss in four starts, Campanelle faces 3-year-old males and females in the six-furlong Commonwealth Cup (G1) June 18. The daughter of Kodiac was scratched from the TVG Limestone Turf Sprint April 9 at Keeneland due to what Ward described as a bruised heel.
"It took a little while to come around, so she's not getting a prep race, but she's got multiple breezes, really quick and ready to go," Ward said. "She's the favorite right now in the race for (next) Friday."
British bookmakers have her at odds ranging from 7-2 to 5-1 in early wagering.
Other intended Royal Ascot starters for Ward include Richard Ravin's Maven (June 15 King's Stand), Gregory Kaufman's Kaufymaker (June 15 Coventry Stakes, G2), Stonestreet Stables' Twilight Gleaming (June 16 Queen Mary) and Ruthin (June 16 Windsor Castle), Hat Creek Racing and Cheyenne Stable's Golden Bell (Windsor Castle or June 18 Albany Stakes, G3), Andrew Farm, For the People Racing Stable, and Windmill Manor Farm's Lucci (June 17 Norfolk, G2), and Marc Detampel's Nakatomi (Norfolk).
TVG will televise every race from the Royal Ascot meeting, beginning its coverage at 9 a.m. ET June 15. The meet will feature four Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" Challenge races, one of which is the Norfolk.
"Closing-day (next) Friday, I'll have Campanelle, kind of send me off, hopefully, a good week," Ward said. "All the horses are doing great soundness-wise. The weather's beautiful, a little hint of rain today, for Wednesday and Thursday. So you know that always plays a factor in it, but we'll see."
Ward, 53, is enjoying this year's leadup, joined overseas by his sons, Riley and Jack. Velazquez is again heading there from the United States to ride many of the trainer's horses at Ascot.
"We're going to try to carry America at least a winner or two home. It would be great," Ward said.
