Gulfstream stakes winner tops daily speed figures

Photo: Gulfstream Park / Ryan Thompson

Shaq Diesel posted Sunday's highest Horse Racing Nation speed figure with a 128 at Gulfstream Park in the Benny The Bull Handicap. The 5-year-old horse by Khozan won the seven-furlong stakes race at 9-5 odds in a dominant win by 4 1/4 lengths. This marked his eighth career victory in his 26th career start.

Sweet Azteca earned a 125 HRN speed figure at Del Mar in the Rancho Bernardo Handicap. The 5-year-old mare by Sharp Azteca captured the 6 1/2-furlong stakes at 2-5 odds, securing her seventh career win from nine starts.

Awesome Rhythm completed the top three with a 125 HRN speed figure at Del Mar in an allowance optional claimer. The 6-year-old gelding by First Samurai won the six-furlong dirt race at 9-2 odds for his sixth career victory from 19 starts.

Saturday's top 10 speed figures

HRN Horse Sire Age Race Distance
128 Shaq Diesel Khozan 5H GP 9 7f dirt
125 Sweet Azteca Sharp Azteca 5M DMR 2 6 1/2f dirt
125 Awesome Rhythm First Samurai 6G DMR 8 6f dirt
125 Rhetorical Not This Time 4G SAR 8 1 1-16 turf
123 Great Navigator Sea Wizard 5H MTH 8 6f dirt
121 Kalahari Dreams Country House 3G SAR 6 6 1/2f dirt
117 Friendly Ghost Outwork 4G WO 9 7f syn
117 Light Fury Wicked Strong 8G GP 8 1 1/16 syn
115 Sbagliato Quality Road 5G DMR 9 1 mile turf
115 Westwood Authentic 3G DMR 1 1 mile dirt

Fastest maiden winners

Westwood posted the day's highest maiden winner figure with a 115 HRN speed figure at Del Mar. The 3-year-old gelding by Authentic won a one-mile dirt maiden special weight at 6-5 odds in his sixth career start. He is out of Indian Bay by Indian Charlie, and his top sibling Shivaji earned $995,000 and was Grade 3-placed by First Samurai.

Rancho Santa Fe impressed with a 106 HRN speed figure at Ellis Park in his debut. The 2-year-old colt by Tapit captured a one-mile dirt maiden special weight at 7-1 odds. His dam Family Tree is a Smart Strike mare who earned $733,000 and was Grade 2-placed, and his top sibling Heroic Move by Quality Road has earned $934,000 and was Grade 3-placed.

Maruvy earned a 106 HRN speed figure at Gulfstream Park in his fourth career start. The 3-year-old colt by Omaha Beach won a 1 mile, 70-yard synthetic maiden special weight at 3-1 odds. He is out of Malibu Party by Hard Spun, and his top sibling Good Lord by Lord Nelson has earned $102,000.

Saturday's top maiden winners

HRN Horse Sire Age Race Distance
115 Westwood Authentic 3G DMR 1 1 mile dirt
106 Rancho Santa Fe Tapit 2C ELP 7 1 mile dirt
106 Maruvy Omaha Beach 3C GP 5 1 3/32 syn
105 Batter Up More Than Ready 3G ELP 1 1 1/8 turf
104 Bedford the Brave Omaha Beach 3F SAR 7 1 mile turf
103 Reading Time City of Light 3F ELP 9 1 mile turf
102 Zabo Justify 3G WO 4 1 1/16 turf
100 Willful Mama War of Will 3F SAR 1 1 mile turf
99 Golden Truth Tunwoo 3C WO 2 7f syn
97 The Grumpy Rabbit Not This Time 2F ELP 2 1 mile 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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