Trainer Dennis Ward reaches 1,000-win milestone

Dennis Ward, a former jockey and the father of trainer Wesley Ward, hit 1,000 career Thoroughbred training wins in North America on Thursday at Gulfstream when Greely Is Back ($17.80) won the fifth race. Dennis Ward added to his win total one race later, taking the sixth with Dreaming of J C ($21.80).

Ward won the first race of his training career on Oct. 29, 1983 at Turf Paradise, according to Daily Racing Form records. He is a 71-year-old native of Seattle and was a jockey at Longacres in Washington from 1962 to 1968, according to a press release from Gulfstream.

Dennis Ward also spent time in racing working as a jockey’s agent. He’s had more than 7,350 starters as a trainer, and those horses have earned more than $9.9 million. Stakes winners for Dennis Ward include I.B. Forty, Branchory Baron, and Bay Runner.