Speed figures: Fair Grounds track record-setter leads Friday
Built led all performers with an impressive 150 Horse Racing Nation speed figure in an allowance-optional claiming sprint at Fair Grounds in which he set a new track record of 1:07.96 for six furlongs. The 4-year-old son of Hard Spun, who was a stakes winner at 2 and multiple graded-stakes placed at 3, disputed the pace and opened up late to win by 1 1/2 lengths as the 8-5 favorite. It was his second win in three starts this Fair Grounds meet and his fourth in 10 career races for trainer Wayne Catalano.
Hey Brother earned a 126 HRN speed figure at Santa Anita in a waiver-claiming race at 5 1/2 furlongs on the dirt. The 6-year-old gelded son of City of Light, sent off the 3-1 favorite, stalked the pace, opened up midstretch and held by a length. The Librado Barocio trainee was making his first start in a year, and was thus protected under the waiver condition.
Geometry also earned a 126 HRN speed figure at Santa Anita in a waiver-claiming race at 1 1/18 miles on the grass. The 4-year-old Twirling Candy gelding set the pace, turned back all comers, and held by a neck in the end. Trained by Jonathan Thomas into the race, he was claimed for $30,000 to the barn of Tim McCanna out of the race. Geometry has now won three times in nine career starts.
Lavender Love completes the three-way tie for the second-best HRN speed figure of Friday, earning a 126 in an allowance-optional claiming race at Santa Anita for California-breds at a mile on the dirt. Sent off at 5-1 in a field of five, the 4-year-old Grazen filly took the lead early and kept finding more, winning by 3 1/2 lengths. The Richard Baltas trainee won for the third time in her six-race career and sent her earnings into six-figure territory.
Friday's top 10 speed figures
| HRN | Horse | Sire | Age | Race | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 150 | Built | Hard Spun | 4C | FG 3 | 6f dirt |
| 126 | Hey Brother | City of Light | 6G | SA 8 | 5 1/2f dirt |
| 126 | Geometry | Twirling Candy | 4G | SA 1 | 1 1/8 turf |
| 126 | Lavender Love | Grazen | 4F | SA 7 | 1 mile dirt |
| 125 | Humble Toad | Hard Spun | 3F | FG 7 | 6f dirt |
| 125 | Keewaydin | Instagrand | 4C | CNL 4 | 7f dirt |
| 124 | Mary's Lad | Earthlight | 4G | TAM 1 | 7f dirt |
| 124 | Power Attack | War Dancer | 6G | TAM 8 | 6f dirt |
| 120 | Multiverse | Practical Joke | 4G | CNL 5 | 7f dirt |
| 118 | Kerness K | Great Notion | 4G | LRL 6 | 6f dirt |
Fastest maiden winners
Humble Toad posted the day's highest maiden-winning HRN speed figure, earning a 125 in his debut victory at Fair Grounds. The 3-year-old Hard Spun filly, trained by Eddie Kenneally, attended the pace and held by a hard-fought head to win at 3-1 odds. Humble Toad is the first starter out of Froskurinn, an unraced Speightstown daughter of the stakes-winning and Group 3-placed Street Cry mare Abingdon.
Ambitiously impressed with a 118 HRN speed figure in a six-furlong maiden special weight over the Tapeta at Turfway. A 4-year-old gelding by Collected, the Cherie DeVaux trainee jumped to the lead and never relented, winning by 1 1/2 lengths at even-money odds. Ambitiously is the second starter out of the winning Stroll mare Leeway. Her other starter is the 3-year-old Hard Spun colt Expressway, a Bill Mott trainee who has won once in four starts so far and earned $74,150.
Unauthorized earned a 117 HRN speed figure at Oaklawn in a six-furlong maiden claiming race, graduating in his fifth career start. The 3-year-old Maclean's Music colt, sent off the even-money favorite in his first start for a tag, was always forwardly placed and opened up in the lane to win by 3 1/2 lengths. Trained by Rodolphe Brisset into the race, he was claimed out of the race but the claim was invalidated, meaning he stays put. Unauthorized is the sixth winner from six starters out of the Grade 2-placed Broken Vow mare Cloudy Vow. Three of those six winners are stakes-placed including her top earner America's Vow, a three-time winner who has made $151,104 on the track.
Friday's top maiden winners
| HRN | Horse | Sire | Age | Race | Distance | Winning Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 125 | Humble Toad | Hard Spun | 3F | FG 7 | 6f dirt | head |
| 118 | Ambitiously | Collected | 4G | TP 9 | 6f syn | 1 1/2 |
| 117 | Unauthorized | Maclean's Music | 3C | OP 4 | 6f dirt | 3 1/2 |
| 113 | Sunshine Daydream | Medaglia d'Oro | 4F | FG 6 | 1 mile turf | 1/2 |
| 112 | Love'm Or Liam | Liam's Map | 4C | GP 5 | 1 1/16 syn | 1 1/2 |
| 112 | Big Tech | Practical Joke | 3C | OP 1 | 6f dirt | 5 |
| 111 | Kayla's Komet | Mitole | 3F | FG 5 | 6f dirt | head |
| 111 | Antietam | Curlin | 4C | AQU 1 | 1 mile dirt | 3/4 |
| 108 | Sweetster | Leinster | 3F | GP 1 | 5f syn | 1 |
| 106 | Making Daisys | Gun Runner | 3F | CNL 2 | 1 mile dirt | head |
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.
Note: For the fastest maiden winners mentioned, all dam and sibling earnings are based on North American starts only.