Speed figs: Book’em Danno, Journalism are Saturday’s best
Book'em Danno delivered Saturday's top performance with an exceptional 137 Horse Racing Nation speed figure at Saratoga. The 4-year-old gelding by Bucchero prevailed in the six-furlong, Grade 2 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Stakes. This marked his ninth career victory in his 15th lifetime start.
Journalism earned a 133 HRN speed figure while capturing the Haskell Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park as the 2-5 favorite. The 3-year-old colt by Curlin dominated the 1 1/8-mile dirt contest, securing his sixth career win from nine starts.
Redistricting completed the top three performers with a 131 HRN speed figure at Monmouth Park in the United Nations (G2). The 5-year-old gelding by Kingman won the 1 3/8-mile turf stakes at 6-5 odds, recording his fourth career win from ten starts.
Top 10 speed figures
| HRN | Horse | Sire | Age | Race | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 137 | Book'em Danno | Bucchero | 4 g | SAR 11 | 6 f dirt |
| 133 | Journalism | Curlin | 3 c | MTH 12 | 1 1/8 dirt |
| 131 | Redistricting | Kingman | 5 g | MTH 11 | 1 3/8 turf |
| 128 | Almendares | Havana Grey | 5 g | DMR 7 | 1 mi turf |
| 125 | Indispensable | Constitution | 4 c | DMR 10 | 1 mi dirt |
| 125 | Navy Seal | Dubawi | 4 g | SAR 8 | 1 3/8 turf |
| 125 | Scottish Lassie | McKinzie | 3 f | SAR 10 | 1 1/8 dirt |
| 125 | Rookie Card | Adios Charlie | 3 c | SAR 12 | 7 f dirt |
| 121 | Surface to Air | Midshipman | 5 h | MTH 6 | 1 1/8 dirt |
| 121 | Randomized | Nyquist | 5 m | MTH 10 | 1 1/16 dirt |
English Castle is best of maidens
English Castle registered the day's highest figure among maiden winners with a 112 HRN speed figure at Saratoga. The 4-year-old gelding by English Channel secured victory at 7-10 odds in a 1 1/16 miles turf maiden-claiming event in his ninth career start. He is out of Sea Coast, a Grade 3-placed daughter of Rock of Gibraltar whose offspring include Swashbuckle, an earner of $250,000.
Silent Dreamer posted a 106 HRN speed figure while breaking her maiden at Monmouth Park in just her second career start. The 3-year-old filly by Into Mischief prevailed at 7-1 odds in a six-furlong dirt, maiden special weight. Her dam is the Grade 1 winner Celestine, who earned over $1.15 million during her racing career.
Investment Mandate completed the top three maiden performers with a 91 HRN speed figure at Monmouth Park. The 3-year-old gelding by Constitution won a 1 1/16 miles turf maiden special weight at 3-1 odds in his second career start. He is out of Faithfully, a Grade 1-placed daughter of Smart Strike who earned $288,000 during her career.
Top maiden winners
| HRN | Horse | Sire | Age | Race | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 112 | English Castle | English Channel | 4 g | SAR2 | 1 1/16 turf |
| 106 | Silent Dreamer | Into Mischief | 3 f | MTH2 | 6f dirt |
| 97 | Prism Pool Pat | Gift Box | 3 f | GP 1 | 5 1/2f dirt |
| 97 | Emphasis | Yaupon | 2 c | SAR 7 | 6 f dirt |
| 94 | Lucked In | Madefromlucky | 5 g | CNL 1 | 1 mile dirt |
| 91 | Sheila's Lion | Persian King | 3 f | CNL 10 | 1 3/16 turf |
| 91 | Investment Mandate | Constitution | 3 g | MTH 3 | 1 1/16 turf |
| 88 | Thirsty Rebel | Stay Thirsty | 2 c | DMR 8 | 5 f dirt |
| 87 | Sammy Davis | Sir Prancealot | 2 g | DMR 4 | 5 f dirt |
| 87 | Tessellate | McKinzie | 2 f | GP 6 | 5 f 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 continously 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.