Fastest horses: Winners at Delaware, Horseshoe Indiana impress
Blue Kingdom posted Thursday's highest Horse Racing Nation speed figure with a 128 in the eighth race at Delaware Park, a $50,000 starter allowance at a mile on dirt. The 4-year-old gelding by First Mondays jumped to the lead and drew off in the lane to a dominant seven-length victory at even-money odds. It was the third consecutive win for the Jamie Ness trainee, and his fourth in 16 lifetime starts.
Hern earned a 121 HRN speed figure at Horseshoe Indiana for his win in Thursday's seventh race at Horseshoe Indianapolis, a $25,000 claiming race that was run at a mile and 70 yards on dirt after being taken off turf. The 6-year-old Gun Runner gelding disputed the pace and kicked away to win by 5 3/4 lengths at 8-5 odds. Trained into the race by John Haran, he was claimed to the barn of Cipriano Contreras. It was his seventh victory in 35 starts, and his first this year.
Linzer completed the top three with a 120 HRN speed figure in Thursday's fifth race at Horseshoe Indiana, an allowance optional claimer at five furlongs on dirt. The race had originally been carded for grass, but was washed off. The 4-year-old Street Sense gelding set the pace and held on to win by a neck at odds of 4-1. It was his third win in 20 starts and his first since an allowance score at Kentucky Downs in August of 2024.
Thursday's top 10 speed figures
| HRN | Horse | Sire | Age | Race | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 128 | Blue Kingdom | First Mondays | 4G | DEL 8 | 1 mile dirt |
| 121 | Hern | Gun Runner | 6G | IND 7 | 1 mile 70 yds dirt |
| 120 | Linzer | Street Sense | 4G | IND 5 | 5f dirt |
| 117 | Liuzza | Maximus Mischief | 4F | CD 4 | 6 1/2f dirt |
| 117 | Midnight West | Get Stormy | 5G | IND 1 | 1 mile dirt |
| 115 | Systemic Change | Ghostzapper | 6G | BAQ 5 | 1 mile dirt |
| 114 | Shining Spirit | Mor Spirit | 4F | DEL 2 | 5 1/2f dirt |
| 113 | Winning Trip | Win Win Win | 3G | DEL 1 | 6f dirt |
| 110 | Soupergirl | Souper Speedy | 3F | WO 5 | 6f synthetic |
| 109 | Chillax | Bernardini | 3C | CD 8 | 1 1/16 dirt |
Fastest maiden winners
Winning Trip earned the day's highest speed figure for a maiden winner, posting a 113 HRN speed figure for his three-length score at Delaware Park. The 3-year-old gelding by Win Win Win won a $25,000 maiden claimer at six furlongs on dirt. The Michael Gorham trainee rallied from midfield to win by three lengths at 4-1 odds. He is out of the winning Trippi mare Lucky Trip, who earned $68,825 on the track. His top sibling is the mare Inspiressa, an earner of $96,600 who won at first asking and finished second in the 2019 Del Mar Debutante (G1).
Chillax impressed with a 109 HRN speed figure at Churchill Downs in a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight. The 3-year-old colt by Bernardini, trained by Bill Mott, rallied from midpack to win by 3 3/4 lengths at 4-5 odds. The race was his sixth career start. He is out of the Smart Strike mare Keepshercool, a daughter of Grade 1 winner Composure and a half-sister to Grade 2 winner Penwith. His top sibling to date, the full sister Spelterini, won once in 10 starts and earned $117,643.
Counting Stars earned a 105 HRN speed figure at Churchill Downs in her debut. The 2-year-old filly by Honor A. P. tracked the pace in the 6 1/2-furlong maiden special weight and took over to win by four lengths at 9-2 odds. The Mark Casse trainee is the first starter out of the Paynter mare Paynterbynumbers, a two-time winner who earned $81,346.
Thursday's top maiden winners
| HRN | Horse | Sire | Age | Race | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 113 | Winning Trip | Win Win Win | 3G | DEL 1 | 6f dirt |
| 109 | Chillax | Bernardini | 3C | CD 8 | 1 1/16 dirt |
| 105 | Counting Stars | Honor A. P. | 2F | CD 5 | 6 1/2f dirt |
| 104 | Rockin Rocio | Mr Speaker | 3F | IND 2 | 6f dirt |
| 103 | Weaponized | Gun Runner | 3G | CD 3 | 1 mile dirt |
| 99 | Cloud Rider | Cloud Computing | 5M | WO 2 | 7f synthetic |
| 99 | Coloma | Divining Rod | 2G | DEL 7 | 6f dirt |
| 99 | Alta Calibre | Mucho Macho Man | 3F | WO 4 | 6 1/2f synthetic |
| 94 | Supreme Good | Supremacy | 2C | BAQ 4 | 1 mile dirt |
| 90 | Goth | More Than Ready | 3F | IND 3 | 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 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.