Wesley Ward Birthdate: March 3, 1968 Birthplace: Selah, Wash. Residence: Glendora, Cal. and Boca Raton, Fla. Family: wife, KImberly; sons, Riley and Jack; daughter, Denae.

2009 Gulfstream Record

Career:

• Son of Washington trainer Dennis Ward and grandson of popular New York outrider Jim Dailey, Ward was an Eclipse Award-winning apprentice jockey in 1984 when he won 335 races and more than $5 million in purses ... Riding champion at Aqueduct, Belmont and The Meadowlands that year ... Later rode in Italy, Singapore, Malaysia, Illinois and California, where he was aboard Ferdinand when the eventual Kentucky Derby winner broke his maiden as a 2-year-old
• Since shifting his family from California to Palm Beach county, Ward has had a rising impact at Gulfstream since 2006, putting himself in the top-15 and maintaining one of the highest winning percentages on this circuit 
• Retired from riding in 1989 because of weight problems and assisted his father before going out on his own as a trainer
• Ward made history in June 0f 2009 when he became the first American trainer to win at the prestigious Royal Ascot meet in England when 2-year-old colt Strike the Tiger captured the Windsor Castle Stakes. On the next day, 2-year-old filly Jealous Again, whom he also owned in a partnership, won the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes ... Strike the Tiger and Jealous Again were among the five juveniles plus turf sprinter Cannonball that Ward ran at Royal Ascot during the meet ... Shortly thereafter, Ward sold Jealous Again to the Darley Stable of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum
• Ward is active across the country and has won stakes in New York, Florida and important races in Kentucky as well as California 
• Saddled One Hot Wish to a world record of 48.87 seconds over 4 1/2 furlongs in her debut at Keeneland in 2007 
• Had Cannonball prominent on the 3-year-old scene in 2008 with a third-place finish in the Hallandale Beach Stakes and won two stakes at Calder with 2-year-old filly My Sweet Natalie  Trained for the late Roger King, the media mogul and frequent Gulfstream patron who died in 2008. Actor Joe Pesci, whose self-named filly finished ninth as one of the favorites in the 2004 Sunshine Millions Distaff, is also among Ward’s clients 
• Scored his first stakes win in the 1994 Cinema Handicap at Hollywood Park with Unfinished Symph, who went on to finish third in the Breeders’ Cup Mile that year at Churchill Downs. Unfinished Symph also won the San Francisco Mile and Shoemaker Breeders’ Cup Mile in 1995 
• Trained Men’s Exclusive, a California-bred gelding who earned more than $1.4 million before being retired at age 10. Men’s Exclusive finished sixth as the favorite in the 1997 Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Hollywood Park following victories in the Los Angeles Handicap and California Sprint Championship
• Shipped Bear Fan to Belmont in 2004 to win the Genuine Risk and Vagrancy handicaps.
  

Other: Held the contract for apprentice Victor Santiago in 2008 and gave him the leg up to victories in his first career race.