Speed figures: Chad Brown’s Activist Investing impresses
Activist Investing led all performers with a 136 Horse Racing Nation speed figure at Belmont at Aqueduct in Friday's fourth race. The 5-year-old horse by Kingman, trained by Chad Brown, settled in last early but finished with a flourish to win a 1 3/16-mile turf allowance optional claimer as the 6-5 favorite, winning by 2 1/4 lengths. This marked his first victory of the year, and his third in nine career starts.
El Alacran earned a 131 HRN speed figure at Woodbine in a six-furlong claiming sprint on the Tapeta. The 4-year-old Fast Anna gelding, trained by James Begg, tracked the early pace and then took command, rawing off to win by nine lengths as the 4-1 third betting choice in the field of ten. It was his third win in five starts this year, and his fourth in 19 lifetime starts.
Etendre completed the top three with a 122 HRN speed figure at Gulfstream Park in a six-furlong claiming sprint on the dirt. The 4-year-old gelding by Awesome of Course, trained by Carlos David, led at every call and won by 1 3/4 lengths at even money. It was his second win in a row and his third in 15 career starts. Out of the race, he was claimed to new owner and trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.
Friday's top 10 speed figures
| HRN | Horse | Sire | Age | Race | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 136 | Activist Investing | Kingman | 5H | BAQ 4 | 1 3/16 turf |
| 131 | El Alacran | Fast Anna | 4G | WO 2 | 6f syn |
| 122 | Etendre | Awesome of Course | 4G | GP 8 | 6f dirt |
| 122 | Beef Winslow | Honor Code | 6G | SA 8 | 1 mile turf |
| 122 | Cloud Music | Cloud Computing | 5G | LRL 9 | 1 1/16 turf |
| 121 | Thermal | Nyquist | 4F | SA 3 | 6f dirt |
| 119 | Nation | Constitution | 5G | KEE 10 | 7f dirt |
| 119 | Frosty View | Frosted | 4G | KEE 9 | 5 1/2f turf |
| 118 | Outdoor Cat | Improbable | 3C | LRL 8 | 6f dirt |
| 116 | Neonate | Neolithic | 3G | GP 4 | 5 1/2f syn |
Fastest maiden winners
Paladin posted the day's highest maiden winner figure with a 113 HRN speed figure for his debut Friday in a dirt mile at Belmont at Aqueduct. The 2-year-old colt by Gun Runner, trained by Chad Brown, crossed the wire a head behind Renegade but was placed first after Renegade was disqualified to second for leaning on and bumping Paladin near the wire. It was another 5 1/4 lengths back to the rest of the pack. Paladin is out of the unraced Tapit mare Secret Sigh, a half-sister to Mozu Ascot, a multiple Group 1 winner in Japan.
Beach Heist earned the joint second-best HRN speed figure among Friday's maiden winners with a 112 for her debut maiden win in a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint at Keeneland. The 2-year-old daughter of Omaha Beach, trained by Will Walden, led at every call an won by 2 3/4 lengths. She is the first starter out of the Graydar mare Pearl Heist, a two-time winner and earner of $70,269.
Three Little Birds also earned a 112 HRN speed figure for her victory Friday in a six-furlong maiden-claiming dirt sprint at Gulfstream. The 3-year-old Maximum Security gelding, trained by Oscar Gonzalez trainee graduated in his seventh start. He tracked the pace before drawing off to win by 6 1/4 lengths at 8-5 odds. He was claimed to the barn of Jorge Delgado out of the race. He is out of the winning Unbridled's Song mare Riolama, whose top earner is the Malibu Moon gelding The Great Gazoo, a two-time winner who earned $121,593.
Friday's top maiden winners
| HRN | Horse | Sire | Age | Race | Distance | Winning Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 113 | Paladin | Gun Runner | 2C | BAQ 5 | 1 mile dirt | 5 1/4 |
| 112 | Beach Heist | Omaha Beach | 2F | KEE 4 | 5 1/2f turf | 2 3/4 |
| 112 | Three Little Birds | Maximum Security | 3G | GP 10 | 6f dirt | 6 1/4 |
| 106 | Power Grid | City of Light | 2C | LRL 2 | 7f dirt | 7 1/2 |
| 105 | Candy Road | Gone Astray | 2G | GP 1 | 6f dirt | 4 3/4 |
| 104 | Jewel Box | Street Sense | 3F | KEE 8 | 1 1/16 dirt | 1/20 |
| 99 | Highly Potent | War of Will | 3G | WO 6 | 1 1/16 syn | 3 1/2 |
| 96 | Bella Classica | Classic Empire | 3F | WO 5 | 1 1/16 syn | 1 |
| 94 | Her Town | Mo Town | 3F | KEE 1 | 6f dirt | 1 1/4 |
| 93 | Dream Dancer | City of Light | 3G | GP 6 | 1 mile turf | 5 |
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.