Maiden winners at Santa Anita, Keeneland lead fastest horses

Photo: Candice Chavez / Eclipse Sportswire

Jude led all performers with a 135 Horse Racing Nation speed figure at Santa Anita in the sixth race. The 3-year-old colt by Uncle Mo, trained by Bob Baffert won a six-furlong maiden special weight on the dirt at 3-1 odds in his career debut. Trailing in last early, he rolled late to win by 2 1/2 lengths.

L Rankin earned a 133 HRN speed figure at Santa Anita in a 6 1/2-furlong maiden optional claimer. The 2-year-old gelding by Maximus Mischief graduated in his fifth career start at 4-1 odds, the third betting choice in the field of six. The Peter Miller trainee tracked the pace and took over in the final furlong to win by 2 1/4 lengths.

Busk completed the top three with a 124 HRN speed figure at Keeneland in a $12,500 starter allowance at six furlongs on the dirt. The 4-year-old Candy Ride gelding, trained by Manuel Chavez, won by 5 3/4 lengths in frontrunning fashion at even-money odds. He has won 10 of his 15 starts, including nine of his 12 starts this year.

Friday's top 10 speed figures

HRN Horse Sire Age Race Distance
135 Jude Uncle Mo 3C SA 6 6f dirt
133 L Rankin Maximus Mischief 2G SA 2 6 1/2f dirt
124 Busk Candy Ride 4G KEE 1 6f dirt
123 Further Ado Gun Runner 2C KEE 8 1 1/16 dirt
122 Change My World World of Trouble 3C LRL 9 6f dirt
119 Braquet Exaggerator 4F LRL 7 7f dirt
115 Paradise Lake Uncle Mo 4F SA 7 1 1/8 turf
115 Prosecco Rita Yaupon 2F LRL 6 7f dirt
114 Vodka Vodka Stay Thirsty 4G SA 9 1 mile turf
112 Desvio Yoshida 4G KEE 9 1 1/2 turf

Fastest maiden winners

Jude, the fastest horse of the day with a 135 HRN speed figure, earned that in a maiden race. The 3-year-old colt by Uncle Mo, trained by Bob Baffert, closed to win his debut, a six-furlong maiden special weight at Santa Anita. He was the 3-1 second choice in the seven-horse field. He is out of the winning Johannesburg mare Helena Bay, making him a half-brother to Grade 1 winner Collected, who earned $2.98 million on the track.

L Rankin, the second fastest horse of the day with a 133 HRN speed figure, earned that in a maiden race as well. The 2-year-old gelding by Maximus Mischief won a 6 1/2-furlong maiden optional claimer at Santa Anita at 4-1 odds, graduating in his fifth career start. The Peter Miller trainee is out of the Distorted Humor mare Bratouttahell, a half-sister to stakes winner and Group 1-placed City Style. His only sibling to race, the Instagrand filly Gift of Lizzy, has won four times and earned $23,730 so far.

Further Ado, a 2-year-old colt by Gun Runner, earned a 123 HRN speed figure Friday in a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight on the Keeneland dirt. The Brad Cox trainee, sent off the 2-1 favorite in a field of 12, prompted the early pace before drawing off in the lane to win by 20 lengths. He is out of the Grade 3-placed Sky Mesa mare Sky Dreamer, who earned $176,065 on the track. Further Ado is a half-brother to Kimbear, a Group 2 winner who earned $807,269 at the races.

Friday's top maiden winners

HRN Horse Sire Age Race Distance
135 Jude Uncle Mo 3C SA 6 6f dirt
133 L Rankin Maximus Mischief 2G SA 2 6 1/2f dirt
123 Further Ado Gun Runner 2C KEE 8 1 1/16 dirt
115 Prosecco Rita Yaupon 2F LRL 6 7f dirt
112 Adorable Angel Society's Chairman 3F WO 7 5 1/2f syn
107 Egyptian Mau Fire Away 5M SA 5 6 1/2f turf
106 Zabarta Abarta 2F WO 3 6f syn
105 Mo Argento Mo Town 3F WO 2 6f syn
104 Princess Jade Cairo Prince 4F WO 6 1 1/16 syn
103 Camila Catalina Rock Your World 2F KEE 6 6 1/2f 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.

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