Speed figures: Follow the fastest winners from coast to coast
Take a Hint topped Friday's performers with a 135 Horse Racing Nation speed figure in a six-furlong starter optional claiming race at Laurel Park. The 5-year-old gelding by Bandbox, sent off the 3-2 second choice in the field of nine, disputed the pace early before opening up. He ran on to win by 2 1/4 lengths. Trained by Gary Capuano, Take a Hint won for the second time in five starts this year and the seventh in 24 lifetime outings.
Piper's Causeway earned a 127 HRN speed figure at Santa Anita in a six-furlong allowance optional claimer for California-breds. The Jesus Uranga trainee battled on the pace, opened up through midstretch, and held on to win by a nose at 14-1 odds. It was his second win this year and his fifth in 25 starts. The 5-year-old gelding is by 2016 Longacres Mile winner Point Piper, a sire with just four winners from eight starters. Piper's Causeway's five wins account for over half of the nine wins across all of Point Piper's progeny to race so far.
Chunk of Gold completed the top three with a 126 HRN speed figure at Keeneland, which he earned in an allowance optional claimer at 1 1/8 miles on the dirt. The 3-year-old Preservationist colt, trained by Ethan West, set the pace and rolled home to win by 8 1/4 lengths as the 8-5 second choice. The win was the second this year and the third in nine lifetime starts for this consistent horse, whose only time out of the exacta came when he was ninth in the Kentucky Derby.
Friday's top 10 speed figures
| HRN | Horse | Sire | Age | Race | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 135 | Take a Hint | Bandbox | 5 g | LRL 7 | 6f dirt |
| 127 | Piper's Causeway | Point Piper | 5 g | SA 8 | 6f dirt |
| 126 | Chunk of Gold | Preservationist | 3 c | KEE 3 | 1 1/8f dirt |
| 124 | Ironsides | Midshipman | 5 g | GP 5 | 1 mile turf |
| 122 | Ask in My Name | Jess's Dream | 5 g | WO 6 | 7f syn |
| 121 | Dakota Country | Mucho Macho Man | 4 g | SA 1 | 1 mile turf |
| 121 | Shinigami | Prime Attraction | 3 g | WO 5 | 7f syn |
| 121 | Pentathlon | Speightstown | 4 c | BAQ 3 | 1 mile dirt |
| 120 | The Big Cheeseola | Mr. Big | 5 g | SA 2 | 6f dirt |
| 120 | Philippa | Arrogate | 4 f | SA 5 | 1 mile turf |
Fastest maiden winners
Philippa earned the day's highest maiden-winning HRN speed figure with a 120 at Santa Anita. The 4-year-old filly by Arrogate, trained by Bob Baffert, rallied to win a maiden special weight turf mile by 2 1/4 lengths as the 2-1 favorite. She is out of the winning and stakes-placed Desert Party mare Saharan, who earned $179,650 on the racetrack. Saharan is a half-sister to two graded-stakes winners including Grade 1 winner My Conquestadory. Philippa's other winning sibling, the Hard Spun colt Papa Golf, has won once and earned $65,870.
Starship Pegasus impressed with a 110 HRN speed figure at Belmont at Aqueduct, beating New York-breds in a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight on the grass. The 3-year-old filly by Uncle Mo, trained by Michelle Nevin, led at every call as the 2-1 favorite to win her third career start. She comes from a classy family. Her dam, the Lemon Drop Kid mare Khancord Kid, earned $167,343 and was a Grade 3 winner on the lawn. She has produced two Grade 1 winners: Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1) winner Spirit of St Louis and Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint winner Bar of Gold.
Tyler's Turn earned a 108 HRN speed figure at Keeneland, graduating in his fourth career start in a $20,000 maiden claimer at seven furlongs on dirt. A Kenny McPeek-trained 3-year-old colt by Improbable, Tyler's Turn started slowly but came rolling into the lane and drew off to win by four lengths as a 12-1 long shot. He is out of the Kingmambo mare Bachata, who earned $163,925 and was Grade 3-placed on the grass. Tyler's Turn's top sibling to date is Gold Medal Dancer, a Grade 2 winner who earned $639,669 on the track.
Friday's top maiden winners
| HRN | Horse | Sire | Age | Race | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 120 | Philippa | Arrogate | 4 f | SA 5 | 1 mile turf |
| 110 | Starship Pegasus | Uncle Mo | 3 f | BAQ 1 | 1 1/16 turf |
| 108 | Tyler's Turn | Improbable | 3 c | KEE 2 | 7f dirt |
| 106 | Shades of Jade | Munnings | 3 f | BAQ 4 | 6f turf |
| 104 | Proudly Hailed | Mehmas | 3 c | LRL 6 | 6f turf |
| 103 | Counterintuitive | Not This Time | 2 f | KEE 5 | 1 1/8 turf |
| 102 | Peanutbutterbombe | Collected | 2 f | SA 3 | 6 1/2f turf |
| 100 | King Rosso | Vino Rosso | 4 g | WO 1 | 1 1/16 syn |
| 96 | Chase N Ryan | Stay Thirsty | 2 g | SA 4 | 5 1/2f dirt |
| 96 | Complex Agenda | Quality Road | 3 g | BAQ 9 | 1 1/16 turf |
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.