Poke The Bear

Trained by Hayley Burton out of Newmarket, Suffolk, the four-year-old has built a career record of 3 wins and 5 places from 22 races — wins coming at roughly 1 in every 7 attempts overall, or about 14%. The yard has sent out 6 winners this season and Poke The Bear has been part of that story. Jockey Tyler Heard has been the key partnership here: together they have won 3 of their 10 races, a 30% win rate that tells you this combination works. When Heard is in the saddle at Lingfield, it is genuinely worth paying attention.

The honest truth is that form away from Lingfield is a different picture entirely. The most recent six runs read 4-7-10-6 and a second — placed, but no wins — and the last victory came at Lingfield on 29 January 2026, around four months ago. The horse typically competes at Class 6, the entry level of British racing, and has won 3 of its 15 races at that level, roughly 1 in every 5. That is a solid record at the grade, even if the recent sequence suggests things have gone a little quiet since January.

Poke The Bear raced just one day ago, so this is a horse in the thick of an active campaign. The profile is simple enough: take it to Lingfield, put Heard up, and let it do what it clearly does best. Away from that track it is a decent, honest competitor. Back there, it becomes something else entirely — and with the Lingfield record it has built, any future run at that course immediately becomes one worth watching.