Speed figures: Pimlico Special winner Navajo Warrior leads Friday
Navajo Warrior led all performers with a 128 Horse Racing Nation speed figure in the Grade 3 Pimlico Special on Friday at Laurel Park. The 5-year-old Candy Ride gelding, trained by Saffie Joseph, Jr., was the 6-5 favorite in the field of 7. He jumped to the lead, took some prompting, but ultimately opened up to win by 2 3/4 lengths. It was his second win in a row and his ninth in 17 career starts.
Peanutbutterbombe earned a 127 HRN speed figure at Santa Anita in a first-level allowance-optional claiming turf mile at Santa Anita on Friday. The Phil D'Amato trainee, a 3-year-old daughter of Collected, was the narrow 5-2 favorite of seven in the field. She raced toward the rear of the field early, but rallied in the lane and got up in time to win by a length. It was her second victory in four career starts.
Lavender Love and Majorca completed the top three with matching 124 HRN speed figures.
Lavender Love, a 4-year-old Grazen filly trained by Richard Baltas, earned hers in a first-level allowance-optional claiming dirt mile at Santa Anita. Sent off the 3-5 favorite of four, she took the early lead and never looked back, drawing off to win by 4 1/2 lengths. It was her second win of the year and her fourth in eight lifetime starts.
Majorca earned his in a second-level allowance-optional claimer going 1 1/16 miles on the Laurel dirt. The second-longest shot in the field at 10-1, he stalked the pace early, disputed it around the far turn, and drew drove clear in the stretch to win by 3 1/4 lengths. The 4-year-old gelding by Volatile is trained by Daniel Eubanks. It was Majorca's third win in nine starts, all of which have come in a row at Laurel dating back to March.
Thursday's top 10 speed figures
| HRN | Horse | Sire | Age | Race | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 128 | Navajo Warrior | Candy Ride | 5G | LRL 12 | 1 3/16 dirt |
| 127 | Peanutbutterbombe | Collected | 3F | SA 7 | 1 mile turf |
| 124 | Lavender Love | Grazen | 4F | SA 4 | 1 mile dirt |
| 124 | Majorca | Volatile | 4G | LRL 3 | 1 1/16 dirt |
| 123 | Ocean Ripple | English Channel | 4F | BAQ 5 | 1 1/16 turf |
| 122 | Margoinabubblebath | Midnight Storm | 6H | CD 7 | 6f dirt |
| 122 | Wine After Whiskey | Reload | 3G | WO 3 | 5 1/2f syn |
| 121 | Silent Heart | Heart to Heart | 5H | CD 9 | 1 mile turf |
| 120 | Air of Defiance | Quality Road | 5G | CD 3 | 6f dirt |
| 119 | Palazzi | Pioneerof the Nile | 8G | GP 9 | 1 1/16 turf |
Fastest maiden winners
Ocean Ripple led Friday's maiden winners with a 123 HRN speed figure, which she earned in a $55,000 maiden claiming race at 1 1/16 miles on the grass at Belmont at Aqueduct. The 4-year-old English Channel filly, trained by David Jacobson, was the 4-1 third choice of eight. She settled toward the rear of the main group, let a sharp pace unfold in front of her, and rallied to win by a head in her ninth lifetime start. Ocean Ripple is the second winner from two starters out of the Kitten's Joy mare Charreada, who placed four times in eight races. Ocean Ripple is a full sister to Weighted Average, a Grade 3-placed winner who has amassed $266,794 so far.
Sammysaurus Rex impressed with a 114 HRN speed figure in a maiden-optional claiming race Friday going 5 1/2 furlongs on the Tapeta at Woodbine. The 4-year-old Reload gelding was making his fourth creer start, and the Gordon Colbourne trainee was sent off the 4-1 second choice of seven. He jumped to the lead and never relented, winning by 5 1/2 lengths. Sammysaurus Rex is out of the the unraced mare Malaspina, a Speightstown daughter of Grade 3 winner Bunbeg. Malaspina has produced four winners from four starters; her top earner so far is Trinity Park, a Giant Gizmo gelding who earned $42,719.
American Tapit earned a 103 HRN speed figure at Laurel Park, winning a maiden special weight turf mile at Laurel in her seventh career start. The 3-year-old American Pharoah filly, trained by Horacio de Paz, chased at the middle of a strung-out field early but moved into contention by the half and battled in the lane to win by three quarters of a length at 7-2 odds. She is the first starter out of the Tapit mare By the Hour, who hit the board in three of her four starts.
Friday's top maiden winners
| HRN | Horse | Sire | Age | Race | Distance | Winning Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 123 | Ocean Ripple | English Channel | 4F | BAQ 5 | 1 1/16 turf | head |
| 114 | Sammysaurus Rex | Reload | 4G | WO 5 | 5 1/2f syn | 5 1/2 lengths |
| 103 | American Tapit | American Pharoah | 3F | LRL 6 | 1 mile turf | 3/4 length |
| 101 | Sean Nos Dancing | Kantharos | 4C | GP 4 | 5f syn | 3/4 length |
| 97 | Knowhere | Cat Burglar | 3G | SA 1 | 1 mile turf | 1/2 length |
| 96 | Pacer | Nyquist | 3C | SA 8 | 6f dirt | 1/2 length |
| 95 | Bold Fact | Curlin | 3G | LRL 1 | 6f dirt | 1 1/4 lengths |
| 92 | He Is No Lie | Early Voting | 2C | SA 6 | 4 1/2f dirt | 8 lengths |
| 90 | Golden Descent | Goldencents | 4G | LRL 5 | 5 1/2f turf | 1 1/2 lengths |
| 88 | My Kid's Said No | Omaha Beach | 2F | GP 2 | 5f dirt | 10 3/4 lengths |
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.