Joe Ward’s first trip to Saratoga was on Thursday, Aug. 26, 1993, and he bet on the legendary Fourstardave. This Saturday, Aug. 11, he will compete in the Fourstardave Challenge, Saratoga’s first-ever major handicapping contest to be held on a weekend.Ward won his way in last Sunday, in the final Saratoga qualifier held on the DRF Tournaments website.“I knew I was getting down to my last chances, so I wanted to take a shot,” he said. “I’ve played in small tournaments at Monmouth, but this will be my first bigger contest and I’m excited for it.”Ward, 58, works doing troubleshooting and tech work for General Electric. He lives in Miami Beach, Fla., but travels frequently, often in pursuit of craft beer.“My wife and I moved to New York City in 2003 and we lived near a bar called The Blind Tiger,” he explained. “We didn’t realize the extent of what was out there and we really got involved in the craft beer community.”Since then, of course, craft beer has exploded, and he Wards have been all over the world in pursuit of it. “We always say craft beer people are the best people and we’ve made lifelong friends through the beer world and become connected to so many people.”Ward sees a similar dynamic at play in horse racing contests. “Most of my play now is isolated, playing online, and there are not a lot of opportunities to meet people,” he said. “I’m looking forward to the chance to meet more horseplayers, and to be participating, not just being an outsider watching other people play, which I’ve done at other tournaments.Ward grew up on the Jersey Shore and like so many players was initially introduced to the game by his father.“I don’t remember my first day at the track but I do have a memory of a day betting where I had no idea what I was doing,” he admitted. “I was just guessing and not catching anything.”Quite sensibly, Ward thought to himself, “I like horse racing, but losing is no fun.”He recalls the first handicapping book he purchased, “Investing at the Racetrack,” by William Scott.“The book proposed a systematic way to handicap that zeroed in on favorites and suggested safe bets on them,” Ward said. “My dad laughed at that, asking me, ‘Betting the favorite to place, what’s that all about?’ ”But Ward got plenty out of the book, as it taught him how to look at the numbers in Daily Racing Form and helped him cash a lot of tickets. Then he discovered Andrew Beyer’s tremendous body of work.“Reading Beyer, I realized there was a lot more to look at,” he said.The last few years he has played in more online tournaments and they’ve definitely changed the way he looks at races. “I definitely focus more on finding longshots and tend to disregard short prices,” he said.His plan for the weekend is to shadow the tournament on Friday to try to get an idea of how he might play on Saturday.“I’m inclined to be cautious at first and stick to minimums, but my game plan will depend on which races I like the most,” he said. “It’s a disadvantage not having experience, but I hope to go to the last race with a shot at landing in the money.”Back on that Thursday in 1993, things didn’t go according to the script for Fourstardave. He crossed the wire first in the West Point, but Ward’s win ticket was worthless. In a controversial move, the chestnut gelding was disqualified for bearing out and placed fifth. Ward is hoping that this time around, he’ll get the cash.