Fastest horses: Woodbine winners lead HRN speed figures
Lois Len posted the day's highest Horse Racing Nation speed figure, earning a 133 performance at Woodbine in an open claiming sprint at seven furlongs on the Tapeta. The 6-year-old mare by Hunters Bay jumped out to the lead and never relented, winning by 3 1/4 lengths at 2-1 odds. She won for the third time in seven starts this year and the ninth in 36 lifetime outings. Trained by Debra Rombis into that start, she was claimed to the barn of Michael Mattine.
Sleepy earned a 125 HRN speed figure at Horseshoe Indiana on Thursday, winning a six-furlong allowance-optional claiming sprint on the dirt. The 3-year-old Keen Ice gelding ran to his 4-5 favoritism, stalking the pace and running on to win by 1 3/4 lengths. The Randy Klopp trainee has now won five times in 10 career starts, including four straight wins dating to Oct. 2.
Dive Bomber completed the top three with a 122 HRN speed figure at Churchill Downs in a first-level allowance race at 7 1/2 furlongs on dirt. The 4-year-old Omaha Beach gelding, trained by Aaron Shorter, prompted the early pace and kept on in the lane to win by 1 1/4 lengths, posting a 15-1 upset. Dive Bomber has won four times in 10 career starts, including his last three outings.
Thursday's top 10 speed figures
| HRN | Horse | Sire | Age | Race | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 133 | Lois Len | Hunters Bay | 6M | WO 5 | 7f synth |
| 125 | Sleepy | Keen Ice | 3G | IND 4 | 6f dirt |
| 122 | Dive Bomber | Omaha Beach | 4G | CD 9 | 7 1/2f dirt |
| 121 | Don't Miss Out | Gormley | 3F | IND 3 | 6f dirt |
| 120 | Kavala | Mohaymen | 5M | WO 3 | 7f synth |
| 119 | Royal Presence | American Pharoah | 3G | WO 6 | 1 1/8 synth |
| 119 | Systemic Change | Ghostzapper | 6G | AQU 2 | 1 mile dirt |
| 117 | Big to Do | Cairo Prince | 4C | CD 6 | 1 1/16 turf |
| 116 | Senza Parole | Gun Runner | 3F | AQU 7 | 6 1/2f dirt |
| 115 | Mutaawid | Quality Road | 5H | AQU 6 | 1 3/16 turf |
Fastest maiden winners
Royal Presence posted the day's highest figure among maiden winners with a 119 HRN speed figure at Woodbine, in a 1 1/8-mile maiden special weight over the Tapeta. The 3-year-old American Pharoah gelding settled toward the rear early, rallied to the lead into the lane, and battled on to win by a head at 7-1 odds. The Sean Smullen trainee won for the first time in five career starts. He is the first winner from two starters out of the Ghostzapper mare Ghostly Presence, a three-time stakes winner and earner of $373,277.
Voodoo Doll impressed with a 115 HRN speed figure at Woodbine in his debut, which came in a six-furlong maiden special weight. The 2-year-old son of Vekoma, trained by Mark Casse, stalked the pace and ran on best in the final furlong, getting up by a nose to win as the 8-5 second choice. He is the first starter out of the Vancouver mare Salino, a two-time winner and earner of $60,700. Voodoo Doll's second dam is Stellar, who was Grade 2-placed as a juvenile, and he is from the extended family of millionaire and Grade 1 winner Gygistar.
A Bourbon for Toby earned a 105 HRN speed figure in a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight on the Aqueduct grass Thursday. The 3-year-old Bernardini colt, trained by Tom Morley, rallied from midfield and took over to win by 3 3/4 lengths as the 5-2 second choice. He won in his 11th career start, though he had hit the board seven times and even took a shot in the Jockey Club Derby (G2) in the start just before his maiden win. A Bourbon for Toby is out of Kitten's Girl, a winning Kitten's Joy half-sister to Grade 1 winner and Canada horse of the year Up With the Birds. His only other sibling to race, the Munnings gelding Gericault, has won once in 20 starts and earned $29,124 so far.
Thursday's top maiden winners
| HRN | Horse | Sire | Age | Race | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 119 | Royal Presence | American Pharoah | 3G | WO 6 | 1 1/8 synth |
| 115 | Voodoo Doll | Vekoma | 2C | WO 1 | 6f synth |
| 105 | A Bourbon for Toby | Bernardini | 3C | AQU 9 | 1 1/16 turf |
| 101 | Brazilian Conexao | Bal a Bali | 2G | IND 5 | 1 mile dirt |
| 98 | Black Goddess | Higher Power | 3F | WO 4 | 1 1/16 synth |
| 96 | Music Burst | Maclean's Music | 2F | CD 8 | 6f dirt |
| 96 | Global Quote | Global Campaign | 3G | CD 2 | 1 1/16 dirt |
| 93 | Jr Shadow Boy | Unbridled Express | 2G | IND 7 | 5 1/2f dirt |
| 88 | Joker On Fire | Practical Joke | 3G | AQU 3 | 6f turf |
| 83 | She's Country | Combatant | 2F | AQU 8 | 1 mile turf |
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.