Speed figs: BC Classic winner Forever Young leads top 10
Delivering at 7-2 odds, 4-year-old Forever Young not only won the Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar. His triumph also made him the fastest horse racing Saturday, according to Horse Racing Nation speed figures.
The Real Steel colt earned a 144 HRN figure in the 1 1/4-mile dirt stakes, recording his 10th career win from 13 starts.
Ethical Diamond earned a 140 HRN speed figure at Del Mar in the Breeders' Cup Turf. The 5-year-old gelding by Awtaad won the 1 1/2-mile turf stakes at 27-1 odds, recording his fifth career win from 15 starts.
Bentornato completed the top three with a 139 HRN speed figure in the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Del Mar. The 4-year-old ridgling by Valiant Minister scored at 8-5 odds in a dominant win by 2 1/4 lengths, securing his seventh career victory from 11 starts.
Saturday's top 10 speed figures
| HRN | Horse | Sire | Age | Race | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 144 | Forever Young | Real Steel | 4 c | DMR 9 | 1 1/4 dirt |
| 140 | Ethical Diamond | Awtaad | 5 g | DMR 8 | 1 1/2 turf |
| 139 | Bentornato | Valiant Minister | 4 r | DMR 6 | 6f dirt |
| 138 | Life and Times | Justify | 4 g | BAQ 6 | 1 mile dirt |
| 137 | Nysos | Nyquist | 4 c | DMR 11 | 1 mile dirt |
| 136 | Gezora | Almanzor | 3 f | DMR 12 | 1 3/8 turf |
| 135 | Scylla | Tapit | 5 m | DMR 7 | 1 1/8 dirt |
| 134 | Splendora | Audible | 4 f | DMR 4 | 7f dirt |
| 132 | Solitude Dude | Yaupon | 2 c | GP 7 | 6 1/2f dirt |
| 131 | Roll On Big Joe | Prospective | 5 g | CD 7 | 6f dirt |
Fastest maiden winners
Life and Times posted the day's highest maiden winner figure with a 138 HRN speed figure at Belmont at Aqueduct. The 4-year-old gelding by Justify won a one-mile dirt maiden special weight at 11-1 odds in his debut, in a dominant win by 5 3/4 lengths. He is out of Silky Serenade, an Unbridled's Song mare who earned $42,000, and his top sibling Restless Rider by Distorted Humor won a Grade 1 and earned $894,000.
Solitude Dude impressed with a 132 HRN speed figure at Gulfstream Park in a 6 1/2-furlong dirt maiden special weight. The 2-year-old colt by Yaupon scored at 7-2 odds in his debut, in a dominant win by 9 1/2 lengths. His dam After the Party by Into Mischief earned $63,000 during her racing career.
Founders earned a 120 HRN speed figure at Churchill Downs in his fourth career start. The 3-year-old colt by Constitution captured a 1 3/16-mile turf maiden special weight at 5-2 odds for his first career victory. He is out of Spindle by Hard Spun, whose top sibling Electability by Quality Road was Grade 3-placed and earned $587,000.
Saturday's top maiden winners
| HRN | Horse | Sire | Age | Race | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 138 | Life and Times | Justify | 4 g | BAQ 6 | 1 mile dirt |
| 132 | Solitude Dude | Yaupon | 2 c | GP 7 | 6 1/2f dirt |
| 120 | Founders | Constitution | 3 c | CD 11 | 1 3/16 turf |
| 116 | Moonlight Promises | Promises Fulfilled | 3 f | WO 3 | 5f turf |
| 109 | Commandment | Into Mischief | 2 c | CD 6 | 7f dirt |
| 108 | Monty's Inn | Souper Speedy | 4 f | WO 7 | 6f synth |
| 106 | Bull by the Horns | Essential Quality | 2 c | GP 5 | 1 mile dirt |
| 105 | Debbie Doll | Liam's Map | 2 f | CD 4 | 6f dirt |
| 98 | Game Energy | Tunwoo | 3 f | GP 4 | 5f synth |
| 97 | Lunar Buzz | Vino Rosso | 2 f | LRL 9 | 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.