Big Bear Hug

Most of Big Bear Hug's racing has come at Class 5, the bread-and-butter tier of British racing, where it has won 2 of 18 races at that level. That 11% win rate — just over 1 in 9 — tells you this is a competitive horse without quite being a dominant one. It first got its head in front at Leicester back in May 2023, and has been a reliable if modest performer since. Trained by Jim Boyle out of Epsom in Surrey, the horse is part of a yard that has been in fine form this season, sending out 25 winners — so there's clearly plenty going right at that stable.

What makes the current moment worth noticing is the most recent win. Big Bear Hug landed a race at Kempton Park just this week, on 8 July 2026, and raced again just one day ago — suggesting a busy schedule and a horse that is fit and in the form of its life. Look back at its last six runs and you see a telling pattern: after some middling results (a ninth, a fifth, an eighth), it bounced back with a third, then a win, and then clearly it came out again quickly while the trainer had it firing. That's not coincidence — that's a trainer spotting a horse at its peak and making the most of it.

Robert Havlin has been the most regular jockey partner, riding Big Bear Hug in 7 of its races and winning once together — a 14% win rate, or roughly 1 in 7. That's a decent return. At seven years old, Big Bear Hug isn't getting any younger, but this week's win at Kempton shows there's still plenty of racing left in the tank.