Fastest horses: See who earned Sunday's best speed figures
Faber led all performers on Sunday with a 133 Horse Racing Nation speed figure in an allowance-optional claiming race at about 1 1/8 miles on the Woodbine grass. The Kevin Attard trainee, a 4-year-old Improbable gelding, was the 7-2 second choice of six. He settled near the rear early, was subsequently relegated to last, but came rolling in the lane to take over and win by 2 3/4 lengths. He won for the second time in five starts this year and the third in 19 career outings.
Market Timing earned a 132 HRN speed figure Sunday when she stretched out for a 1 3/8-mile allowance-optional claiming race on the Saratoga lawn. A Chad Brown trainee, Market Timing was the 8-5 favorite of eight. He vied on the early lead, won the pace battle, and dug in to rebuff a late challenge and win by a neck. A 4-year-old gelding by Laoban out of the multiple Grade 3-winning dirt sprinter House Rules, Market Timing won for the second time in four starts.
Amberjack completed the top three with a 131 HRN speed figure at Monmouth Park in an allowance-optional claimer at six furlongs on the dirt. The sophomore Complexity colt, conditioned by Jorge Delgado, was the even-money favorite of six. He jumped to the lead and never relented, clearing in the lane and winning by 1 1/2 lengths. It was his second win in six starts, all this year.
Sunday's top 10 speed figures
| HRN | Horse | Sire | Age/ Sex |
Race | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 133 | Faber | Improbable | 4G | WO 4 | 1 1/8 turf |
| 132 | Market Timing | Laoban | 4G | SAR 6 | 1 3/8 turf |
| 131 | Amberjack | Complexity | 3C | MTH 6 | 6f dirt |
| 129 | With a Kiss | Gun Runner | 3F | SAR 3 | 6 1/2f dirt |
| 126 | Mashallah | Maxfield | 3F | SAR 4 | 6f dirt |
| 125 | Papa Golf | Hard Spun | 4G | CNL 8 | 1 1/16 turf |
| 125 | Souper Forces | Laoban | 4G | MTH 5 | 1 mile turf |
| 122 | Warlander | Kitten's Joy | 4C | KD 2 | 1 1/2 turf |
| 122 | Hughes | Into Mischief | 2C | DMR 4 | 7f dirt |
| 122 | Endrick | Volatile | 4G | WO 7 | 7f synthetic |
Fastest maiden winners
Disparate Impact led all maiden winners Sunday with a 113 HRN speed figure in a 6 1/2-furlong dirt sprint at Saratoga. The 4-year-old Authentic gelding, the 4-1 third choice of nine, stalked the pace and took the lead in the lane, prevailing by half a length. Trained by Linda Rice into the race, he was claimed to trainer Marcelo Arenas for $45,000 out of it. Disparate Impact is out of the stakes-winning Mucho Macho Man mare Mucho Amor. Her other starter is Napping, a 3-year-old Maclean's Music filly who has won once and earned $34,400 so far.
Hemingway earned a 109 HRN speed figure Sunday in a maiden special weight turf mile at Kentucky Downs. The juvenile colt by Constitution, trained by Brad Cox, set the pace and drew off to win by 8 1/4 lengths as the 1-5 favorite of eight. Hemingway is out of Havana Dream, a stakes-placed Quality Road mare who earned $119,486 on the track. She is out of Grade 1 winner Mayo on the Side, making her a half-sister to Grade 2 winner Midcourt and stakes winner French Dip. Her only other starter is Havana Rum, a Yaupon filly who has won once and earned $25,219 so far.
Mesmerize closed out the top three with a 106 HRN speed figure in a maiden special weight Sunday going 1 1/16 miles on the Del Mar turf. The 3-year-old daughter of Maclean's Music, trained by Richard Mandella, was ignored at 14-1 odds in a field of 11. He jumped to the lead, was unfazed when pressured, and ran on to win by 1 1/4 lengths. She is out of the Grade 2-winning Bernardini daughter Spellbound, who earned $231,750 on the racetrack. Spellbound has produced three winners from six starters to date led by Soothsay, a Distorted Humor mare who won twice at the graded-stakes level and earned $467,800 on the track.
Sunday's top maiden winners
| HRN | Horse | Sire | Age/ Sex |
Race | Distance | Winning Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 113 | Disparate Impact | Authentic | 4G | SAR 1 | 6 1/2f dirt | 3/4 length |
| 109 | Hemingway | Constitution | 2C | KD 1 | 1 mile turf | 8 1/4 lengths |
| 108 | Janana Han | Justify | 4F | GP 9 | 1 1/16 synthetic | head |
| 106 | Mesmerize | Maclean's Music | 3F | DMR 5 | 1 1/16 turf | 1 1/4 lengths |
| 104 | Rule Seventy Six | Nyquist | 4C | GP 2 | 1 1/16 synthetic | 4 1/4 lengths |
| 104 | Irish Indygo | Irish War Cry | 4C | CNL 2 | 1 1/16 turf | 6 lengths |
| 103 | Quattro Passi | Girvin | 2F | DMR 2 | 6f dirt | 9 1/4 lengths |
| 102 | Scrambler | Yaupon | 3G | MTH 4 | 6f dirt | 2 1/4 lengths |
| 98 | Atohi | Coal Front | 2G | WO 3 | 6 1/2f synthetic | 4 1/2 lengths |
| 97 | Without Hesitation | Jackie's Warrior | 2F | KD 12 | 6 1/2f turf | 1 3/4 lengths |
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.