Fastest horses of 2020: The 20 best sprint performances

It was easy to have mixed emotions while watching this year's Breeders' Cup Sprint. Whitmore winning made for a great story, but the strength of the Grade 1 race was one of the weakest in recent years because of the defection of many top sprinters.

Volatile and Vekoma were retired prior to the Breeders' Cup, Nashville was directed to the undercard and Gamine always planned to face the fillies.

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Whitmore earned a respectable 104 Beyer Speed Figure for his Breeders' Cup Sprint score, but it comes as no surprise that there were eight other sprint races that resulted in higher figures in 2020.

Opinions on top sprinters varied more this year than usual, depending on the figures that one examined.

Beyer Speed Figures stamped Volatile's win in the Aristides as the best performance of the year, but TimeFormUS Speed Figures rated his victory a 124, a full 10 points behind Nashville's year-high 134 number in the Perryville.

Nashville's Perryville win earned an 102 Beyer, which was 10 points off Volatile's figure in that category.

Vekoma earned the highest Brisnet Speed Rating of the year with his 113 in the Carter (G1).

Gamine did not top a single category, but her win in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint was the only performance this year to earn a top 3 number in Beyer, Brisnet and Timeform figures.

Here are the 20 fastest sprint performances of 2020, according to Beyer Speed Figures, with the respective Brisnet and Timeform numbers listed as well.