Fastest horses: See the best HRN speed figures of the day

Photo: Del Mar

Del Mar Jerry delivered Friday's top performance with an impressive 127 Horse Racing Nation speed figure at Del Mar. The 5-year-old gelding by Mastery prevailed at 3-1 odds in a $40,000-$35,000 claiming race at a mile on dirt, leading at every call and crossing the wire 4 1/4 lengths clear. This marked the Steve Miyadi trainee's sixth career victory in his 13 starts.

U Devil You earned a 124 HRN speed figure at Ellis Park, securing victory at 8-1 odds in a 6 1/2-furlong dirt allowance. He stalked the pace, dug in late and held by a neck. The 3-year-old ridgling by Daredevil, trained by John Ortiz, recorded his second career win from six lifetime starts.

Ixchel completed the top three performers with a 122 HRN speed figure at Colonial Downs in a maiden-optional claiming turf mile. The Brittany Russell trainee was not eligible to be claimed since she had been a $25,000 RNA as a yearling, her last time through a sales ring. The 2-year-old filly by Basin went off at 6-1 odds in what was just her second career start, digging in to graduate by a neck.

Army Officer also earned a 122 HRN speed figure for his track-record-setting allowance win going 1 1/16 miles on the grass. The 4-year-old Not This Time gelding, trained by Brad Cox, rallied from midfield to kick clear of odds-on Quatrocento, winning by 1 1/4 lengths in the end. HRN speed figures took into account the fact that the Ellis Park turf was playing fast on Friday, assigning a 122 for Army Officer as well as a 108 figure for Doncho's track-record-setting win in an allowance at 5 1/2 furlongs on the grass.

Top 10 speed figures for Friday

HRN Horse Sire Age Race Distance
127 Del Mar Jerry Mastery 5G DMR 1 1 mile dirt
124 U Devil You Daredevil 3R ELP 8 6 1/2f dirt
122 Ixchel Basin 2F CNL 6 1 mile turf
122 Army Officer Not This Time 4G ELP 9 1 1/16 miles turf
121 Khoolzan Khozan 4C GP 3 6 1/2f dirt
120 Wagstaff Yorkton 3G WO 6 7f turf
118 Royal Princess Liam's Map 3F DEL 6 6f dirt
117 Simply Stated Warrior's Reward 5M CNL 3 5 1/2f turf
117 Crazy Cavalier Palace Malice 4G DMR 6 1 mile turf
116 Ozara Lope de Vega 4F SAR 8 1 1/16 miles turf

Maiden winners showcase talent

The fastest maiden winner of the day was the aforementioned Ixchel, whose maiden win at Colonial Downs was good for a 122 HRN speed figure, the third-fastest winning figure overall. She is a juvenile daughter of Basin out of the winning Bluegrass Cat mare Alexandria Wa. Her top-earning offspring to date is Akna, a daughter of Oxbow who has won three times and earned $133,446 so far.

Crazy Cavalier earned a 117 HRN speed figure for his maiden win in a $50,000 maiden claiming turf mile at Del Mar on Friday. He rallied from midfield and galloped clear to win by 3 1/4 lengths as the 9-5 favorite. Trained by Doug O'Neill, Crazy Cavalier brough through in his 12th career start. A 4-year-old Palace Malice gelding, he is out of the stakes-placed Pleasantly Perfect mare Zelda Can Dance, whose top earner so far is Chattanooga Crew, a Catalina Cruiser filly who has won twice and earned $43,500 to date.

Love Like Lucy earned a 114 HRN speed figure in her debut Friday in a six-furlong maiden special weight on the Gulfstream Park dirt. The 2-year-old Win  Win Win filly, trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., battled on the pace and kicked away to win by 1 3/4 lengths as the 1-2 favorite. She is out of Just Like Lucy, a winning daughter of Majesticperfection, whose other best offspring include Rammayy, a full brother who has earned US$31,528 racing in the United Arab Emirates.

Napoleon Solo also earned a 114 HRN speed figure Friday, winning a six-furlong dirt maiden special weight on debut at Saratoga. The 2-year-old colt by Liam's Map, trained by Chad Summers, rolled clear to win by 5 1/4 lengths at 7-2 odds. He is the first starter out of Atomic Blonde, a stakes-winning daughter of Scat Daddy who earned $188,710 during her racing career.

Top maiden winners

HRN Horse Sire Age Race Distance
122 Ixchel Basin 2F CNL 6 1 mile turf
117 Crazy Cavalier Palace Malice 4G DMR 6 1 mile turf
114 Love Like Lucy Win Win Win 2F GP 4 6f dirt
114 Napoleon Solo Liam's Map 2C SAR 1 6f dirt
108 Truthorconsequence Tom's d'Etat 3F IND 6 6f dirt
105 Bundle Volatile 3F ELP 4 1 mile dirt
101 Sina Gun Runner 2F DEL 4 6f dirt
101 Platform Khozan 3G DEL 8 6f dirt
97 Salamis Speightstown 3C SAR 7 1 mile turf
97 Chosen Factor The Factor 3F GP 9 5f 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 continously 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.

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