Fastest horses: These are Sunday's top HRN speed figures

Photo: Katie Vordenberg / Eclipse Sportswire

Snowyte led all performers Sunday with a 127 Horse Racing Nation speed figure in a 1 1/16-mile allowance-optional claiming race on the Gulfstream dirt. The daughter of Good Magic, trained by Danny Gargan, was making her 4-year-old debut. She shot to the early lead and never let anyone challenge her, drawing off to win by 11 1/4 lengths at 3-2 odds. It was her second win in eight career starts, and she also was second in the 2024 Frizette (G1) while still a maiden.

Fran's Star earned a 123 HRN speed figure at Fair Grounds in a second-level Louisiana-bred optional-claiming allowance turf mile. A 5-year-old Star Guitar gelding trained by Shane Wilson, he chased the pace before rallying in the lane to finish 1 3/4 lengths clear of the pack. It was his third win from 19 starts and his first victory since December of 2024.

Forced Entry had the joint third-best HRN speed figure of Sunday, earning a 120 in a maiden special weight dirt mile at Santa Anita. The 3-year-old Charlatan filly, trained by Bob Baffert, led at every call and cruised clear to win by 7 1/4 lengths at 7-2 odds. This second career start was a sharp improvement over her debut Jan. 11, when she weakened to last of 10 after getting bumped in upper stretch.

City Exile also earned a 120 HRN speed figure Sunday in a starter allowance at 1 1/8 miles on the Santa Anita turf. Sent off the 4-5 favorite in a field of six, he settled toward the rear of the field early but rallied strongly into the lane and cleared off to win by 3 1/2 lengths. The 6-year-old Cityscape gelding, trained by George Papaprodromou, earned the third win of his 19-race career. This was his first victory since an allowance-optional claiming race in July of 2024 at Del Mar.

Sunday's top 10 speed figures

HRN Horse Sire Age Race Distance
127 Snowyte Good Magic 4F GP 4 1 1/16 dirt
123 Fran's Star Star Guitar 5G FG 7 1 mile turf
120 Forced Entry Charlatan 3F SA 2 1 mile dirt
120 City Exile Cityscape 6G SA 1 1 1/8 turf
116 The Best Distance Distorted Humor 8G TAM 8 1 1/16 dirt
116 Where Y'at Tom's d'Etat 4G FG 6 6f dirt
116 Paris Surprise City of Light 5H GP 7 1 1/16 turf
115 Honor That Dude Curlin's Honor 4G FG 8 6f dirt
114 Louisiana Wildlife Star Guitar 5G FG 1 6f dirt
114 Rizzleberry Rose Govenor Charlie 4F SA 8 6f dirt

Fastest maiden winners

Forced Entry posted the day's highest maiden-winner figure and the joint third-best overall figure with a 120 HRN speed figure at Santa Anita. The Bob Baffert trainee is a 3-year-old daughter of Charlatan out of the Violence mare Violent Times, who was a stakes winner at six furlongs on dirt. She is the first winner from two starters out of her dam.

Where Y'at impressed with a 116 HRN speed figure in a six-furlong dirt sprint at Fair Grounds for $30,000 maiden claimers. A 4-year-old son of Tom's D'Etat trained by Michael Tomlinson, he battled on the pace and cleared in the lane to win by 1 3/4 lengths at 6-1 odds. Where Y'at won for the first time in 10 starts. He is out of the Tale of Ekati mare Diamond Crazy, a five-time winner who earned $211,107 on the racetrack. Both of her racing-age foals are now winners as she is also the dam of 3-year-old Global Campaign filly You're in Heaven, who won a maiden optional claimer at Oaklawn in December.

Calla earned a 103 HRN speed figure Sunday, breaking her maiden in a maiden special weight turf mile at Tampa Bay Downs. The 4-year-old daughter of Mendelssohn, trained by Daniel Damen, overcame an early stumble and a wide trip to get up by a head in a five-way blanket finish, winning at 23-1 odds. She is out of the Curlin mare Gardenista, who won twice and earned $71,785 on the track. Her only other racing-age foal, the 3-year-old Omaha Beach daughter South Bay, won a maiden special weight at Del Mar in August.

Surfin' U. S. A. also earned a 103 HRN speed figure for her maiden special weight victory Sunday in a 6 1/2-furlong turf sprint at Santa Anita. Sent off at 4-1 in a field of 8, the Leonard Powell trainee settled toward the rear, rallied smartly into the lane, and battled best through the final furlong to prevail by a head in her fifth career start. She is a 3-year-old daughter of Rock Your world out of the Trappe Shot mare Will Ye Go Lassie, who won twice and earned $34,367 in 10 starts. She is the first winner from two starters out of her dam.

Sunday's top maiden winners

HRN Horse Sire Age Race Distance Winning
margin
120 Forced Entry Charlatan 3F SA 2 1 mile dirt 7 1/4
116 Where Y'at Tom's d'Etat 4G FG 6 6f dirt 1 3/4
103 Calla Mendelssohn 4F TAM 9 1 mile turf Head
103 Surfin' U. S. A. Rock Your World 3F SA 5 6 1/2f turf Head
  99 Joker Went Wild Practical Joke 3C SA 4 6f dirt 3/4
  94 Velvet Rage Raging Bull 3F GP 5 5 1/2f syn 2
  94 If I Can Dream Awesome Slew 3G GP 2 6f dirt 1 1/2
  91 Career Risk Into Mischief 4C TAM 2 7f dirt 1 1/4
  90 Steady Flo Vino Rosso 4F TAM 3 7f dirt 1
  89 Duchessa Caravaggio 3F TAM 5 1 mile turf 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.

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