Fastest horses: Who earned the best HRN speed figures Sunday
Joe Shiesty and Chipotle tied for Sunday's highest Horse Racing Nation speed figure with a 131 performance.
Joe Shiesty earned his 131 HRN speed figure in the Holiday Cheer Stakes at six furlongs on the synthetic track at Turfway Park. The 4-year-old gelding by Air Force Blue, sent off at 9-1 odds, took the early lead and outgamed Grade 1 winner Howard Wolowitz to win by a neck. It was his second victory of the year, his fifth overall and his third win at the stakes level.
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The 3-year-old gelding Chipotle, a gelding by Mitole, earned that figure in a top-shelf conditioned allowance-optional claimer at 5 1/2 furlongs on the dirt. Sent off at 4-1, he set the pace and dug in down the lane to hold on by a neck. The Michael Gorham trainee won for the sixth time in 10 starts this year and the seventh in his 15-start career.
To the Chief completed the top three with a 128 HRN speed figure in a six-furlong dirt sprint at Fair Grounds. The 3-year-old gelding by Global Campaign, dropping to the maiden claiming level for the first time, rallied strongly in the lane and drew off to win by 4 1/4 lengths as the 27-1 longest shot of seven. Trained by Joe Duhon, To the Chief earned the first win of his four-start career.
Sunday's top 10 speed figures
| HRN | Horse | Sire | Age | Race | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 131 | Chipotle | Mitole | 3G | LRL 8 | 5 1/2f dirt |
| 131 | Joe Shiesty | Air Force Blue | 4G | TP 9 | 6f syn |
| 128 | To the Chief | Global Campaign | 3G | FG 4 | 6f dirt |
| 128 | You Ain't Poppn | Bolt d'Oro | 5H | GP 3 | 6f dirt |
| 128 | Worcester | Empire Maker | 5H | LRL 7 | 1 mile dirt |
| 127 | Ripped | City of Light | 3C | OP 7 | 6f dirt |
| 126 | Mink's Palace | Palace Malice | 4F | TP 7 | 6f syn |
| 126 | Jersey Pearl | Bee Jersey | 5M | OP 8 | 5 1/2f dirt |
| 124 | Aaron | Speightstown | 5G | OP 6 | 6f dirt |
| 123 | Poppa Echo | Echo Town | 3G | OP 5 | 6f dirt |
Fastest maiden winners
To the Chief's 128 HRN speed figure, the third fastest of all on the day, was the best earned by a maiden winner. The 3-year-old Global Campaign gelding is out of the unraced Uncle Mo mare Worth a Chance Mo, a half-sister to multiple Grade 2 winner Forbidden Kingdom. To the Chief's top-earning sibling to date is the three-time winner Army Officer, by Not This Time, who has earned $264,130 so far.
Hogie the Player earned a 120 HRN speed figure Sunday when trying synthetic for the first time in a six-furlong maiden special weight sprint at Turfway Park. The sophomore Omaha Beach gelding set the early pace, was engaged and even headed in the lane, but battled on to win by a neck at 3-2 odds. The Glenn Wismer trainee graduated in his fifth career start. Hogie the Player is out of the winning Into Mischief mare In Jail, whose best earner to date is Miranda Rights, a Constitution gelding who has placed at the stakes level and earned $379,812 so far.
Inno Hurry Early notched a 114 HRN speed figure in his debut Sunday in a maiden claiming race at Laurel Park. Sent off at 10-1 odds in the six-furlong dirt sprint, the Milan Milosevic trainee raced well off a hustled leader early, but made a run around the turn and took over in the lane to win by five lengths. Inno Hurry Early is a 2-year-old gelding by Editorial out of the Malibu Moon mare Luna Luna, a five-time winner who earned $57,752. Inno Hurry Early's top sibling so far, Daily Planet, won four times and earned $167,370.
Sunday's top maiden winners
| HRN | Horse | Sire | Age | Race | Distance | Winning Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 128 | To the Chief | Global Campaign | 3G | FG 4 | 6f dirt | 4 1/4 |
| 120 | Hogie the Player | Omaha Beach | 3G | TP 1 | 6f syn | neck |
| 114 | Inno Hurry Early | Editorial | 2G | LRL 3 | 6f dirt | 5 |
| 113 | Kin to the Wicked | Bobby's Wicked One | 3F | FG 5 | 6f dirt | 7 |
| 113 | James P Sullivan | Cat Burglar | 3G | LRL 5 | 6f dirt | 2 |
| 110 | Petronella | Not This Time | 2F | TP 4 | 1 1/16 syn | 3 1/2 |
| 108 | Different Gravy | Bolt d'Oro | 2C | FG 6 | 1 mile 70 yds dirt | 8 3/4 |
| 104 | Geaux Crazy | Country Day | 2F | FG 3 | 5 1/2f turf | 9 1/4 |
| 103 | Thailand | Not This Time | 2C | TP 10 | 1 1/16 syn | nose |
| 102 | Been Busy | Nyquist | 3F | GP 2 | 5f syn | 1/2 |
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.
Note: For the fastest maiden winners mentioned, all dam and sibling earnings are based on North American starts only.