Practical Joke gelding tops daily speed figures in Saratoga debut
Cultivate led Wednesday's speed-figure performers with a 119 Horse Racing Nation speed figure at Saratoga. The 3-year-old gelding by Practical Joke captured a 6 1/2-furlong dirt maiden claimer at 7-1 odds in his debut.
No No Joe earned a 117 HRN speed figure at Colonial Downs in the second race. The 5-year-old gelding by Exaggerator won a six-furlong dirt claiming race at 1-5 odds, recording his third career victory from 12 starts.
Sassafrassness completed the top three with a 117 HRN speed figure at Delaware Park. The 3-year-old filly by Unified won a one-mile dirt claiming race at 9-5 odds in a dominant win by 4 3/4 lengths, securing her fourth career victory from seven starts.
Tuesday's top 10 speed figures
| HRN | Horse | Sire | Age | Race | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 119 | Cultivate | Practical Joke | 3G | SAR 5 | 6 1/2f dirt |
| 117 | No No Joe | Exaggerator | 5G | CNL 2 | 6f dirt |
| 117 | Sassafrassness | Unified | 3F | DEL 1 | 1 mile dirt |
| 116 | Fatima's Blessing | Marsh Side | 8G | CNL 6 | 1 3/16 turf |
| 113 | Antrax | Authentic | 2G | CNL 4 | 6f dirt |
| 113 | Az U Chase Me | Sharp Azteca | 4G | SAR 7 | 1 mile dirt |
| 113 | Ruse | War Dancer | 7G | SAR 4 | 1 mile turf |
| 112 | Uncle John | Danzing Candy | 5G | IND 3 | 1 1/16 turf |
| 111 | Prove | Mo Town | 3C | SAR 6 | 1 1/16 turf |
| 110 | Sacred Thunder | Holy Boss | 3G | DEL 8 | 1 mile dirt |
Fastest maiden winners
Cultivate's 119 HRN speed figure at Saratoga also made him the fastest maiden winner of the day. The 3-year-old gelding is out of Life's a Gamble by Malibu Moon, and his top sibling Three Wolves by Medaglia d'Oro has earned $33,000.
Antrax impressed with a 113 HRN figure at Colonial Downs in his second career start. The 2-year-old gelding by Authentic captured a six-furlong dirt maiden special weight at 3-1 odds. His dam Im Cruising Dixie by Dixie Union, and top sibling Mezzano by Mizzen Mast has earned $280,000.
Prove earned a 111 at Saratoga in his second career start. The 3-year-old colt by Mo Town won a 1 1/16-mile turf maiden claimer at 2-1 odds. His dam Five Mach Speed by E Dubai, and top sibling Heed to Speed by Mineshaft has earned $41,000.
Tuesday's top maiden winners
| HRN | Horse | Sire | Age | Race | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 119 | Cultivate | Practical Joke | 3G | SAR 5 | 6 1/2f dirt |
| 113 | Antrax | Authentic | 2G | CNL 4 | 6f dirt |
| 111 | Prove | Mo Town | 3C | SAR 6 | 1 1/16 turf |
| 98 | Oppose | Not This Time | 3F | CNL 9 | 1 mile turf |
| 97 | Santinni | Munnings | 2C | DEL 4 | 6f dirt |
| 97 | Sahara Hottie | Sahara Sky | 2F | IND 4 | 5 1/2f dirt |
| 96 | Stop Watch | Not This Time | 3F | DEL 7 | 1 3/16 turf |
| 88 | Gordon Pass | Instilled Regard | 2C | IND 5 | 1 mile turf |
| 85 | Get Even Kid | Pataky Kid | 3F | IND 1 | 1 1/16 dirt |
| 80 | Unbridled Intent | Unbridled Express | 2G | IND 6 | 5 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.