Speed figures: Thursday's HRN top 10 + fastest maiden winners

Photo: Maryland Jockey Club / Jim McCue

Bolt of Aurum led all performers with a 142 Horse Racing Nation speed figure at Laurel Park in the seventh race. The 4-year-old colt by Bolt d'Oro captured a six-furlong dirt allowance optional claimer at 3-1 odds in a dominant victory by eight lengths. This marked his third career victory in his ninth start.

Pursuitneversleeps earned a 134 HRN speed figure at Churchill Downs in a six-furlong dirt allowance race. The 3-year-old colt by Ghostzapper won as the even-money favorite by one length, securing his second career win from six starts.

Wendelssohn completed the top three with a 132 HRN speed figure at Fair Grounds in the Thanksgiving Classic Stakes. The 4-year-old colt by Mendelssohn won the six-furlong dirt stakes at 5-1 odds by 1 1/2 lengths, earning his fifth career victory from 15 starts.

Wednesday's top 10 speed figures

HRN Horse Sire Age Race Distance
142 Bolt of Aurum Bolt d'Oro 4C LRL 7 6f dirt
134 Pursuitneversleeps Ghostzapper 3C CD 12 6f dirt
132 Wendelssohn Mendelssohn 4C FG 9 6f dirt
132 Roar of the Crowd Reload 4G WO 3 6 1/2f syn
129 Winning Trip Win Win Win 3G LRL 9 6f dirt
127 Voila Magic Volatile 3C FG 1 6f dirt
127 Aeolian Tapit 3F CD 8 1 mile dirt
126 Executive Success Souper Speedy 3F WO 5 5 1/2f syn
125 Fede Adios Charlie 3F CD 4 1 mile dirt
124 Pistol Gun Runner 6M CD 9 6f dirt

Fastest maiden winners

Aeolian posted the day's highest figure among maiden winners with a 127 HRN speed figure at Churchill Downs. The 3-year-old filly by Tapit won a one-mile dirt maiden special weight at 3-5 odds in winning by six lengths in her third career start. She is out of Danzatrice, a Grade 3-placed Dunkirk mare who earned $312,000, and her top sibling Tapit Trice won the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes and has earned $1.87 million by the same sire Tapit.

Whtruwearingrlfrnd impressed with a 108 HRN speed figure at Fair Grounds in her debut. The 2-year-old filly by Twirling Candy captured a six-furlong dirt maiden special weight at 9-2 odds in a dominant victory by 7 3/4 lengths. She is out of She's On Top by Will Take Charge, and her top sibling Yourcuznfromboston by Maclean's Music has earned $38,000.

Beekman Street earned a 106 HRN speed figure at Fair Grounds in his fourth career start. The 2-year-old colt by Street Sense won a one-mile turf maiden special weight at 5-1 odds by a half-length. He is out of Grade 2 winner Lady Montdore, a Medaglia d'Oro mare who earned $319,000, and his top sibling Montador by Nyquist has earned $219,000.

Wednesday's top maiden winners

HRN Horse Sire Age Race Distance Winning
Margin
127 Aeolian Tapit 3F CD 8 1 mile dirt 6 lengths
109 Renfro's Reception Street Sense 3G LRL 6 1 1/16 turf 4 3/4 lengths
108 Whtruwearingrlfrnd Twirling Candy 2F FG 5 6f dirt 7 3/4 lengths
106 Beekman Street Street Sense 2C FG 4 1 mile turf 1/2 length
105 City Minute Not This Time 4F GP 1 5f syn nose
104 Be Tha Judge Golden Lad 4G LRL 1 1 mile dirt 1 3/4 lengths
102 Moonie Pie Dialed In 3F FG 3 6f dirt nose
  97 Tedder Omaha Beach 2C FG 7 6f dirt 1/2 length
  94 Mario's Sweet Girl Adios Charlie 5M GP 4 6f dirt 3 1/2 lengths
  93 Conquer the Storm Conquest Curlinate 4F WO 7 1 1/16 syn 3 1/4 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.

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