Fastest horses: Horses at Colonial, Saratoga, more impress
Chado posted Thursday's highest Horse Racing Nation speed figure with a 132 in Friday's second race at Colonial Downs, a seven-furlong starter allowance on the dirt. Sent off the longest shot in the field of six at 12-1, the 3-year-old American Freedom colt prompted the early pace and drew off to win by 6 1/4 lengths for trainer Jason McCutchen. The win was his second in 10 career starts.
Film Star earned a 124 HRN speed figure at Saratoga in a 1 1/8-mile allowance optional claimer on Friday. The 6-year-old horse by Flatter, trained by Linda Rice, won at 7-2 odds in stalk-and-pounce fashion, crossing the wire 1 1/2 lengths in front. Second to Zandon in the 2023 Woodward (G2), Film Star has now won eight times in 29 outings.
Enjoy It Strait completed the top three with a 120 HRN speed figure at Ellis Park in a claiming race at 6 1/2 furlongs on dirt. The 6-year-old gelding by Southern Image closed from last, taking over in the lane and winning by 3 1/4 lengths at 9-2 odds. Trained by Abel Ramirez-Rodriguez, he has now won 12 times in 31 starts. He was claimed out of the race, though a veterinarian voided the claim according to the race chart and he remains with his connections in this start.
Friday's top 10 speed figures
| HRN | Horse | Sire | Age | Race | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 132 | Chado | American Freedom | 3C | CNL 2 | 7f dirt |
| 124 | Film Star | Flatter | 6H | SAR 8 | 1 1/8 dirt |
| 120 | Enjoy It Strait | Southern Image | 6G | ELP 1 | 6 1/2f dirt |
| 120 | Awesome Czech | Mendelssohn | 4F | SAR 9 | 1 1/16 turf |
| 118 | Nanabush | Il Campione | 5M | CNL 6 | 1 mile turf |
| 117 | Caisson | War Front | 7G | DMR 7 | 1 1/16 turf |
| 114 | Systemic Change | Ghostzapper | 6G | SAR 7 | 1 1/8 dirt |
| 113 | Rector | Speightster | 5G | CNL 8 | 1 mile turf |
| 112 | Tarpaulin | Leofric | 3C | SAR 5 | 6f dirt |
| 110 | Tricky Temper | Into Mischief | 4F | SAR 2 | 6f dirt |
Fastest maiden winners
Fille d'Oro posted the day's joint highest maiden winner figure with a 109 HRN speed figure at Saratoga. The 2-year-old filly by Wootton Bassett won a 1 1/16-mile turf maiden special weight at 5-1 odds in her debut for trainer Brad Cox. She is the first starter out of D'oro Diva by Medaglia d'Oro, a two-time winner in France who earned $26,806.
Yankee Drummer also impressed with a 109 HRN speed figure, earning it in a 1 1/16-mile turf maiden claimer at Gulfstream Park. The 4-year-old gelding by Paynter, trained by Joseph Catanese III, got up by aneck to w in in his 10th career start, as the 10-1 longest shot on the board. His dam Yankee Lass by Yankee Gentleman won once and earned $38,070. He is the first winner from four starters out of Yankee Lass.
Playa Del Mar earned a 106 HRN speed figure at Ellis Park in his fourth career start. The 3-year-old colt by Into Mischief, a Godolphin homebred trained by Bill Mott, captured a one-mile dirt maiden special weight at 5-2 odds. He is the first starter out of the stakes-winning and Grade 1-placed Tiznow mare Flor de La Mar, who earned $190,385.
Friday's top maiden winners
| HRN | Horse | Sire | Age | Race | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 109 | Fille d'Oro | Wootton Bassett | 2F | SAR 6 | 1 1/16 turf |
| 109 | Yankee Drummer | Paynter | 4G | GP 1 | 1 1/16 turf |
| 106 | Playa Del Mar | Into Mischief | 3C | ELP 9 | 1 mile dirt |
| 100 | Fuel | Basin | 2C | ELP 7 | 6f dirt |
| 99 | Audax Minor | Danish Dynaformer | 3G | WO 5 | 1 1/16 syn |
| 99 | Ratings Upgrade | Waldgeist | 4F | WO 7 | 1 1/16 turf |
| 98 | Surf's Up | Maclean's Music | 3G | MTH 1 | 5f dirt |
| 93 | Auden | Arrogate | 5G | MTH 7 | 1 mile dirt |
| 86 | El Diablito | Society's Chairman | 5G | WO 1 | 1 3/16 turf |
| 84 | Cannon | Maclean's Music | 3G | ELP 5 | 6f dirt |
About HRN speed figures
HRN speed figures are AI-generated using HRN's proprietary machine-learning algorithms. Although they involve less human input than other speed figures, we see that as a plus as human adjustments often knock down surprisingly good performances to match expectations. HRN speed figures were launched in December 2024, and our expectation is also that the AI-generated speed figures will continuously get better over time.
The HRN speed figure scale goes from 1 to 160. Part of the reason for this higher scale is this helps us avoid assigning a speed figure of zero. For some products, in weaker races, half the field or more may get a speed figure of zero, which leads to inaccuracy and defeats the purpose of speed figures.
Because the HRN speed figures are based on machine learning, as we improve our models we can compute the numbers historically.
Using the top last-race speed figure as a benchmark, here are stats from 2021 to 2024 for HRN and other speed-figure providers:
Top HRN figure 26.2% winners
Top Beyer figure 28.1% winners
Top TimeformUS figure 28.4% winners
Although all HRN speed figures are published on individual horse profile pages on a weekly basis, the daily reports are focused on the top and medium-tier tracks, which represent the majority of top speed figures.