Ward discusses his Royal Ascot team Wesley Ward will send his biggest ever team to Royal Ascot this week with Queen Mary Stakes contender Lady Aurelia his biggest hope. The American trainer could have as many as eight runners over the five days of the showpiece meeting. Ward is no stranger to success at Ascot, having first struck in 2009 with juveniles Strike The Tiger and Jealous Again. In 2013 he pulled off the Norfolk Stakes-Prix Morny double with No Nay Never, while last season Queen Mary Stakes heroine Acapulco went on to be second to her elders in the Nunthorpe. Having blasted her way home in the Queen Mary, the three-year-old daughter of Scat Daddy will this time run in the King's Stand Stakes, providing the ground does not get too soft. Ward said: "The rain is probably going to hurt all my chances, which is a shame. But what can you do? You work as hard as you can to get these horses in the best shape, but there is nothing you can do about the weather. "Acapulco has won two this year and she took her race well at Churchill Downs last month. She's been doing everything you'd want her to do since. "We've booked Frankie (Dettori) for Big City Dreamin in the Windsor Castle, which I am really excited about. Frankie is still the man. "Silvertoni is in the Coventry. She is a really nice filly who has been going great. She is by Tapit, the best sire in America, and she's shooting good. We're seeing everything we want from her." Owned in partnership by NFL wide receiver Wes Welker, Undrafted powered to victory in last season's Diamond Jubilee Stakes under Dettori, and is set to defend his sprint crown after scoring with ease on his return at Keeneland in April. Ward said: "Wes is coming over this time - all the gang will be coming. He missed his win last year, which he wasn't too thrilled about. "But Undrafted would want it fast and firm, so I don't know whether he will run. We'll see how the ground is and discuss it when we get there. If it is too soggy, he won't run." The Florida trainer says his biggest hope is Lady Aurelia, who is favourite for Wednesday's Queen Mary. She has had just the one start, scoring over four and a half furlongs on the dirt at Keeneland in April. Ward said: "All of them are big hopes but she'd be the one. She's a daughter of Scat Daddy and she will be tough (to beat). She's been going really well and Frankie is booked. "We're all really looking forward to coming over - we are always so well looked after when we go to England."
