'Unfortunately there will be no top hats this year' - no Wesley Ward runners at Royal Ascot for first time since 2012

US trainer Wesley Ward will not saddle any runners at Royal Ascot for the first time since 2012 after pulling plans at the last minute to send over a juvenile team headed by the unbeaten Outfielder.

Ward has saddled 12 winners and 15 placed horses at the meeting, having burst on to the scene when Strike The Tiger won the Windsor Castle Stakes in 2009.

Even the Covid-19 pandemic could not stop Ward bringing over a team of live contenders and he most recently enjoyed success with Campanelle in the Commonwealth Cup in 2021.

Speaking from the US on Wednesday, Ward said: “Everything didn’t come together this year, so unfortunately we couldn’t make it. I don’t think we’ve missed attending Royal Ascot since we first started coming in 2009 and I don’t know who’s gutted more, me or my son Riley. We love Royal Ascot, but sometimes things don’t work out the way you want them to.”

Ward, who has attended every Royal Ascot since 2009 despite saddling no runners in 2012, was hoping to spearhead his annual challenge with the juvenile Outfielder. Part-owned by Amo Racing, Outfielder was a winner on his debut over 5f at Churchill Downs last month and was being targeted at the Norfolk Stakes, a race Ward has won with No Nay Never (2013) and Shang Shang Shang (2018).

Campanelle (left): Wesley Ward's most recent Royal Ascot winner when landing the Commonwealth Cup in 2021Credit: Getty Images

He added: “We were going to take a small team to Chantilly for a day-and-a-half stop-over at the end of the week and then take them into Ascot on the Sunday before the races start, but on our last works we decided against it. These are young horses and have had a little bit of this or that so we opted to stay home.”

Reflecting on a meeting where he has saddled 89 runners, including the likes of Lady Aurelia, Acapulco and Undrafted, Ward said: “Unfortunately there will be no top hats this year. My oldest boy, Riley, has been coming for so long that when he first came his ears were holding the hat up as I remember when he was only ten or 11 years old. Now he’s the one who's gutted even more than me and that’s saying something.”

Ward is hoping to get Outfielder, who is by Speightstown and cost $850,000, to Europe later in the year.

He said: “We had hoped to bring Outfielder over who was the leader of the band. We're bummed about that, but maybe next year. Our two-year-old programme is a little behind you guys as the stakes for juveniles don’t really get going until August. 

"I’ve got him lined up for the Prix Morny in France, which is a race I’ve been successful in, and we’ll see how he fares leading up to that, but he’s a big, beautiful colt who has a huge future. We’ve erred on the side of caution this time to help him mature and develop a little bit, and hopefully it pays off in the long run.”

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