Captain Hugo

His record on normal ground tells a similar story: 2 wins from 3 races, a 67% hit rate. Conditions seem to suit him well when the track isn't too testing, and the yard have clearly learned to pick their spots. At Class 3 level — a notch below the very top tier but still competitive racing — he has also won 2 of his 3 races, suggesting he handles the step up in quality without blinking.

The big moment came on 28 February 2026 at Kelso, where Captain Hugo landed a Class 2 victory — one of the top races in Britain. Joint-trainer Johnson White was clear afterwards that the win hadn't come easily on paper, but that the horse had travelled powerfully throughout and jumped better as the race wore on. There was also a mention of a fall at Musselburgh earlier in his career, which makes the Kelso performance feel more significant — he came back from that and showed exactly what he's capable of. The team are already looking at Aintree as a potential next target rather than Cheltenham, which suggests they believe he can handle the very biggest occasions.

Much of Captain Hugo's success has come with Sean Houlihan in the saddle. Together they have won 4 from 7 races, a win rate of 57% — more than one in every two rides. That kind of partnership, built on familiarity and trust, is worth more than most statistics can capture.

He raced just yesterday and remains very much in the thick of a busy season — Philip Hobbs and Johnson White's yard has already sent out 37 winners this term, so there is real momentum behind the operation. Captain Hugo looks like a horse still climbing, with the yard who know exactly when to push and when to wait.