These are the fastest 3-year-olds after the Triple Crown
Going into the Triple Crown, Essential Quality appeared to have a slight hold on the top spot among the nation's best 3-year-olds. Three Triple Crown races later, little has changed.
After a different winner in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes, Essential Quality remains the most accomplished horse in the crop. But there is not much separating him from the top three or four 3-year-olds.
Essential Quality, who was criticized by some for not running a triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure prior to the Kentucky Derby, earned an impressive 109 number in the Belmont Stakes. Hot Rod Charlie, who ran a game second in the Belmont, earned a 108 figure.
Life Is Good and Flightline have earned the third and fourth highest figures in the crop without running in the Triple Crown, and one could argue they possess the highest upside for the second half of the 3-year-old season.
Life Is Good earned a 107 Beyer Speed Figure in March when dusting Medina Spirit. Flightline earned his 105 number while breaking maiden by more than 13 lengths in April. The sky could be the limit for either runner and hopefully they will end up facing Essential Quality at some point down the road.
Brisnet prefers another lightly raced runner who could be in store for a strong second half of the year. Todd Pletcher's Following Sea earned a lofty 108 Brisnet Speed Rating while winning a recent allowance race at Belmont in impressive fashion.
No one has topped Life Is Good's 130 figure on the TimeformUS scale. TimeformUS also rated the Woody Stephens (G1) as a key race for 3-year-old sprinters as they get set to face older runners later in the year. Winner Drain the Clock and runner-up Jackie's Warrior have found their callings around one turn and have stood out as the leading sophomore sprinters.
Below we take a closer look at the fastest 3-year-olds through the first half of the year on the Beyer, Brisnet and TimeformUS scales.
Beyer Speed Figures
| Horse | Beyer Speed Figure | Race |
| Essential Quality | 109 | Belmont Stakes |
| Hot Rod Charlie | 108 | Belmont Stakes |
| Life Is Good | 107 | San Felipe Stakes |
| Flightline | 105 | Maiden special weight |
| Medina Spirit | 102 | Kentucky Derby |
| Rombauer | 102 | Preakness Stakes |
| Mandaloun | 101 | Kentucky Derby |
| Life Is Good | 101 | Sham Stakes |
| Essential Quality | 100 | Kentucky Derby |
| Following Sea | 100 | Allowance |
| Rock Your World | 100 | Santa Anita Derby |
Brisnet Speed Ratings
| Horse | Brisnet Speed Rating | Race |
| Following Sea | 108 | Allowance |
| Essential Quality | 107 | Belmont Stakes |
| Flightline | 105 | Maiden special weight |
| Hot Rod Charlie | 105 | Belmont Stakes |
| Crowded Trade | 104 | Gotham Stakes |
| Weyburn | 104 | Gotham Stakes |
| Search Results | 103 | Kentucky Oaks |
| Jackie's Warrior | 103 | Woody Stephens |
| Malathaat | 103 | Kentucky Oaks |
| Greatest Honour | 103 | Fountain of Youth |
| Life Is Good | 103 | San Felipe Stakes |
| Rombauer | 103 | Preakness Stakes |
| Drain the Clock | 103 | Woody Stephens |
TimeformUS Figures
| Horse | TimeformUS Figure | Race |
| Life Is Good | 130 | San Felipe Stakes |
| Jackie's Warrior | 129 | Woody Stephens |
| Essential Quality | 127 | Belmont Stakes |
| Drain the Clock | 127 | Woody Stephens |
| Hot Rod Charlie | 126 | Belmont Stakes |
| Jackie's Warrior | 124 | Pat Day Mile |
| Rock Your World | 124 | Santa Anita Derby |
| Following Sea | 123 | Maiden special weight |
| Dream Shake | 122 | Pat Day Mile |
| Medina Spirit | 122 | Kentucky Derby |
| Rombauer | 122 | Preakness Stakes |