Fastest horses: Winners at Woodbine, Churchill lead the day
Home for a Rest posted the day's highest Horse Racing Nation speed figure Thursday, earning a 124 for her win inThursday's fifth race at Woodbine. The 4-year-old filly by Souper Speedy, trained by Robert Tiller, rallied from the rear of a seven-horse field to win a US$18,085 claiming race at 6 1/2 furlongs on the Tapeta. She was sent off at 7-2, the narrow second betting choice. It was her fifth win in 14 starts and her second in a row.
Can't Hush This earned a 121 HRN speed figure at Churchill Downs on Thursday, winning a $62,500 claiming race at 7 1/2 furlongs on the dirt. A 6-year-old Not This Time gelding trained by Gregory Foley, Can't Hush This bided his time near the rear of a short field, made a rail rally in upper stretch and drew away at 6-1 odds. It was his first win of the year and his sixth in 32 career starts.
Nat Gas completed the top three, earning 120 HRN speed figure for his victory in the ninth race at Delaware Park, a $25,000 claiming race at six furlongs on the dirt. A 3-year-old gelding by Thousand Words, the Greg Compton trainee was sent off at 5-1 odds. He stalked the pace, rallied to the lead in upper stretch and crossed the wire 2 1/2 lengths clear. It was his second victory in four starts.
Thursday's top 10 speed figures
| HRN | Horse | Sire | Age | Race | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 124 | Home for a Rest | Souper Speedy | 4F | WO 5 | 6 1/2f synth |
| 121 | Can't Hush This | Not This Time | 6G | CD 3 | 7 1/2f dirt |
| 120 | Nat Gas | Thousand Words | 3G | DEL 9 | 6f dirt |
| 119 | Taylor's Version | Into Mischief | 3C | CD 8 | 6f dirt |
| 115 | Feltrinelli | Uncle Mo | 4G | BAQ 4 | 6f turf |
| 115 | She's Complicated | Complexity | 3F | BAQ 2 | 1 mile dirt |
| 112 | Countthebrave | Speightster | 3G | CD 1 | 6 1/2f dirt |
| 112 | Gambe Forte | Weigelia | 4G | DEL 2 | 6f dirt |
| 111 | Ondine Lady | Cairo Prince | 5M | WO 4 | 6f synth |
| 110 | Revs Medal | Medal Count | 5G | IND 3 | 1 1/16f turf |
Fastest maiden winners
Unbridled Hero posted the day's highest HRN speed figure among maiden winners with a 107 at Horseshoe Indianapolis. The 3-year-old gelding by Unbridled Express won a maiden special weight dirt mile as the even-money favorite, graduating in stalk-and-pounce fashion despite late trouble. It was the first win in 16 starts for the Israel Garcia trainee. He is a son of the winning Jimmy Creed mare Runaway Dream, a half-sister to multiple graded-stakes winner Mr. Misunderstood.
Miss Fulton Gal, a juvenile filly by Rock Your World, earned a 105 HRN figure for her win in a six-furlong maiden special weight sprint at Delaware Park in her second career start. Sent off at 9-5 odds, she overcame a bobble at the start, chased midfield and rallied late to win by 1 1/2 lengths. The Michael Gorham trainee is out of the Not This Time daughter Leah Forestiere and from the family of multiple graded-stakes winning sprinter St. Joe Bay.
Sunshine Lily earned a 104 HRN speed figure on Thursday at Belmont at Aqueduct for her win in a six-furlong maiden special weight dirt sprint for New York-breds. The Gregory DiPrima trainee tracked the pace, engaged in a prolonged pace battle and hit the wire a nose in front at 5-1 odds. Sunshine Lily is a 3-year-old Vekoma filly out of the unraced Grand Slam mare Silken Lily, a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Upstart.
Moe Eighty Eight, already stakes-placed against New York-breds, also earned a 104 HRN speed figure when breaking his maiden at 1 1/16 miles on the grass at Belmont at Aqueduct. The 3-year-old Solomini gelding, trained by John Ortiz, tracked the pace and won by 2 1/4 lengths as the 8-5 favorite. He is out of the winning Tapit mare Autumn Ash, the dam of seven other winners including $151,210 earner Irish Riviera.
Thursday's top maiden winners
| HRN | Horse | Sire | Age | Race | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 107 | Unbridled Hero | Unbridled Express | 3G | IND 4 | 1 mile dirt |
| 105 | Miss Fulton Gal | Rock Your World | 2F | DEL 1 | 6f dirt |
| 104 | Sunshine Lily | Vekoma | 3F | BAQ 3 | 6f dirt |
| 104 | Moe Eighty Eight | Solomini | 3G | BAQ 8 | 1 1/16f turf |
| 96 | Super Kick | Mitole | 2C | CD 4 | 6f dirt |
| 93 | Springer | Complexity | 3G | WO 3 | 6 1/2f synth |
| 92 | King Putt | King for a Day | 3G | WO 1 | 1 1/8f synth |
| 91 | Instilled Zip | Instilled Regard | 2F | IND 8 | 5 1/2f dirt |
| 89 | Blue Madame | Dubawi | 2F | BAQ 5 | 1 1/16f turf |
| 88 | Kenz | McKinzie | 2F | CD 6 | 7f 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.