Hurricane Wesley still blowing hot after ten seasons of success at Royal Ascot

It was ten years ago that Hurricane Wesley first made landfall in Britain and nobody who was at Ascot when it happened will ever forget it. When Strike The Tiger lined up for the Windsor Castle Stakes of 2009, he was viewed as something of a novelty, a 33-1 shot expected to generate little more than a light breeze at the world's most glamorous meeting. When he stormed out of the stalls shortly after 5.30 on the opening day, ripping up trees as he went, the racing world was forced to recalibrate both its barometer and its stopwatch.

The lightning bolt juvenile blitzed his field early and hung on late to become the first US-based horse to win at Royal Ascot, and when Jealous Again repeated the dose, with an even more tempestuous five-length win in the Queen Mary the next day, the name of Wesley Ward was seared across the British turf.

The Washington-born former champion apprentice went instantly from being a well-regarded American trainer of some 18 years' experience to a pioneering figure on the international scene. A decade down the line, he has ten strikes at the meeting to his name and has become a reliable and popular seasonal visitor to these shores, like the first swallow of summer in a top hat, signalling yet another onslaught of youthful talent from his Kentucky base. This year's team, numbering eight two-year-olds and the five-year-old Bound For Nowhere, won't be his biggest but he believes it may well be his best and, as ever, he's not afraid to be quoted on that.