Ward brings over impressive artillery Wesley Ward is confident of adding to his Royal Ascot tally after preparing a formidable team of 10 horses for the Berkshire extravaganza. Ward become the first American-based trainer in history to saddle a winner at the Royal meeting when Strike The Tiger struck gold in the Windsor Castle Stakes in 2009 and the affable trainer was on the mark again the following day with runaway Queen Mary scorer Jealous Again. Those triumphs six years ago were no flash in the pan, with No Nay Never and Hootenanny also enjoying big-race success in the last two seasons. Hootenanny is back for more, with the inaugural Commonwealth Cup on the penultimate day his target, but there are plenty of other horses getting Ward excited. The trainer's first representative of Royal week will be Coventry Stakes candidate Finnegan. Beaten into second on his debut at Keeneland, the Coolmore-owned youngster went one better at Pimlico and is highly rated by Ward. "I think he's going there with a big chance, I really do," said Ward. "He was always top of his class from day one. The boys at Coolmore sent him to me in early December and from the moment I got on - I rode him myself - I could feel the class. "He was very special from day one. From when we starting breezing him, every horse I matched him with in his work, he wasn't always the quickest, but always had the most class. "He worked well on the dirt, but since we put him on the grass he's just raised it another notch." Finnegan is one of a clutch of juveniles crossing the Atlantic for Florida-based Ward. Assessing some of his other two-year-old prospects, the trainer said: "I have a really nice filly called Back At The Ranch, who was second first time up on the dirt and then won convincingly at Belmont. She's listed for the Albany Stakes. "I have a nice filly for the Queen Mary called Acapulco, who the owners paid a considerable amount of money for. "She disappointed on her first run at Churchill Downs, but I don't think she handled the track and I have been very happy with how she has breezed on the grass at Keeneland since then. "Keeneland is probably the closest thing we have to a European track over here. It's a different type of grass, more like a European turf track. "A lot of my horses work very well here in Florida and then I take them to Keeneland and they don't handle it as well, so I know after I've taken them there whether they can go to Ascot or not." Hootenanny appears an obvious candidate for Ascot glory given he has previous course experience and Ward is expecting him to make his presence felt again. "We're aiming for the Commonwealth and it's exciting to be going back to Ascot with him," said Ward. "He loves the track and out of all the horses we took over last year, he was the one that really thrived. "I know he won the Windsor Castle last year, but if you look at his time I think it would have given him a good chance in all the juvenile races." Ward also confirmed Undrafted an intended runner in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes, while Luck Of The Kitten has the Jersey Stakes on his agenda.
