Top speed figures of 2023: 2-year-olds on dirt

Looking at the top speed figures of 2023, perhaps the most important category is 2-year-olds, who will be the contenders for the 2024 Kentucky Derby and classic races.

We're going to analyze the 2-year-olds in a couple of ways, based on the best Horse Racing Nation speed figures of the year for routes and sprints. For this analysis, routes are 7 1/2 furlongs or longer.

As one might expect, the fastest 2-year-old routers are familiar names: Locked, the Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity winner and third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile; Fierceness, the Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner; and Nash, the impressive maiden winner for trainer Brad Cox are the top three on the list.

In case you were wondering which trainers have the most 2-year-olds on this list, that would be Todd Pletcher with nine. He's followed by Brad Cox (seven), Kenny McPeek (six), Bob Baffert (six) and Bill Mott (five).

In terms of sires, the ones with the most individual runners include Gun Runner, with four, Into Mischief (four), Street Sense (four), Constitution (three), Good Magic (three), Speightstown (three) and Vino Rosso (three).

Top 100 speed figures of 2023 - 2-year-old dirt routes

HRN	Horse	Trk	Date	Sire	Trainer	Race
109	Locked	SAR	9/1	Gun Runner	Todd Pletcher	MSW
106	Fierceness	SA	11/3	City of Light	Todd Pletcher	Breeders' Cup Juvenile
101	Nash	CD	11/12	Medaglia d'Oro	Brad Cox	MSW
99	Sierra Leone	AQU	12/2	Gun Runner	Chad Brown	Remsen S.
98	Divieto	GP	10/1	Dialed In	Antonio Sano	Aventura S.
98	Muth	SA	10/7	Good Magic	Bob Baffert	American Pharoah S.
98	Drum Roll Please	SAR	9/1	Hard Spun	Brad Cox	MSW
98	Timberlake	BAQ	10/7	Into Mischief	Brad Cox	Champagne S.
98	Dornoch	AQU	12/2	Good Magic	Danny Gargan	Remsen S.
97	Muth	SA	11/3	Good Magic	Bob Baffert	Breeders' Cup Juvenile
97	Dornoch	KEE	10/14	Good Magic	Danny Gargan	MSW
97	No More Time	GP	10/22	Not This Time	Jose Francisco D'Angelo	MSW
97	Secret Chat	GP	10/1	Union Rags	Roderick Rodriguez	Aventura S.
96	Honor Marie	CD	11/25	Honor Code	Whitworth Beckman	Kentucky Jockey Club S.
96	Book'em Danno	AQU	11/5	Bucchero	Derek Ryan	Nashua S.
96	Copper Tax	DEL	10/14	Copper Bullet	Gary Capuano	Rocky Run S.
96	Generous Tipper	ELP	8/28	Street Sense	Kenny McPeek	MSW
96	Where's Chris	AQU	11/5	Twirling Candy	Rick Dutrow Jr.	Nashua S.
96	Locked	SA	11/3	Gun Runner	Todd Pletcher	Breeders' Cup Juvenile
95	Timberlake	SA	11/3	Into Mischief	Brad Cox	Breeders' Cup Juvenile
95	Moonlight	BAQ	9/28	Audible	Todd Pletcher	MSW
94	Self Sufficient	GP	10/1	Preservationist	Todd Pletcher	Aventura S.
93	Prince of Monaco	SA	11/3	Speightstown	Bob Baffert	Breeders' Cup Juvenile
93	Wine Me Up	SA	10/7	Vino Rosso	Bob Baffert	American Pharoah S.
93	Domestic Product	BAQ	10/27	Practical Joke	Chad Brown	MSW
93	Speedyness	LRL	11/17	Great Notion	Jamie Ness	AOC
93	Inveigled	GP	12/9	Enticed	Jane Cibelli	AOC
93	Real Men Violin	CD	11/25	Mendelssohn	Kenny McPeek	Kentucky Jockey Club S.
93	Locked	KEE	10/7	Gun Runner	Todd Pletcher	Breeders' Futurity
92	Parchment Party	CD	11/9	Constitution	Bill Mott	AOC
92	Drum Roll Please	AQU	12/2	Hard Spun	Brad Cox	Remsen S.
92	General Partner	BAQ	10/7	Speightstown	Chad Brown	Champagne S.
92	The Wine Steward	KEE	10/7	Vino Rosso	Mike Maker	Breeders' Futurity
92	Who Dey	MVR	10/28	Liam's Map	Thomas Drury Jr.	Best of Ohio Juvenile S.
91	Coach Prime	DMR	11/10	Quality Road	Bob Baffert	MSW
91	Lightline	IND	9/14	City of Light	Brad Cox	MSW
91	General Partner	SA	11/3	Speightstown	Chad Brown	Breeders' Cup Juvenile
91	Otello	AQU	11/24	Curlin	Christophe Clement	MSW
91	Stretch Ride	CD	11/25	Street Sense	Dale Romans	Kentucky Jockey Club S.
91	Real Men Violin	CD	10/29	Mendelssohn	Kenny McPeek	MSW
91	Liberal Arts	CD	10/29	Arrogate	Robert Medina	Street Sense S.
91	Track Phantom	CD	11/25	Quality Road	Steve Asmussen	MSW
91	Shadowy	MVR	10/28	National Flag	Timothy Hamm	Best of Ohio Juvenile S.
91	Speed Runner	AQU	12/8	Gun Runner	Todd Pletcher	MSW
90	Drum Roll Please	BAQ	10/6	Hard Spun	Brad Cox	MSW
90	Snead	FG	11/23	Nyquist	Brendan Walsh	AOC
90	Malarchuk	AQU	12/8	Nyquist	Chad Brown	MSW
90	J D Factor	AQU	11/24	The Factor	Rick Dutrow Jr.	MSW
90	Track Phantom	CD	10/29	Quality Road	Steve Asmussen	MSW
89	Dancing Groom	SAR	8/19	Vino Rosso	Antonio Sano	MSW
89	Searcy	OP	12/9	Good Magic	Brad Cox	MSW
89	First World War	CD	11/9	War Front	Brendan Walsh	AOC
88	Catching Freedom	CD	11/9	Constitution	Brad Cox	AOC
88	Great Opportunity	LRL	12/3	Connect	Brittany Russell	MSW
88	Django	KEE	10/14	Medaglia d'Oro	Kenny McPeek	MSW
88	Stronghold	CD	10/1	Ghostzapper	Philip D'Amato	MSW
88	Lagynos	CD	11/9	Kantharos	Steve Asmussen	AOC
88	Moonlight	AQU	12/2	Audible	Todd Pletcher	Remsen S.
88	Goldbrick	OP	12/9	Goldencents	Bret Calhoun	MSW
87	Break Out	GP	10/22	Good Samaritan	Antonio Sano	MSW
87	Hunt Ball	BAQ	10/6	Into Mischief	Bill Mott	MSW
87	Billal	AQU	11/5	Street Sense	Bill Mott	Nashua S.
87	Wynstock	SA	10/15	Solomini	Bob Baffert	MSW
87	Stretch Ride	KEE	10/14	Street Sense	Dale Romans	AOC
87	Sturdy	BAQ	10/27	Mitole	George Weaver	MSW
87	Northern Flame	CD	9/15	Flameaway	Kenny McPeek	MSW
87	Northern Flame	KEE	10/7	Flameaway	Kenny McPeek	Breeders' Futurity
87	Generous Tipper	KEE	10/7	Street Sense	Kenny McPeek	Breeders' Futurity
87	El Grande O	BAQ	10/29	Take Charge Indy	Linda Rice	Sleepy Hollow S.
87	Real Macho	GP	11/25	Mucho Macho Man	Rohan Crichton	MSW
87	Moonlight	CD	10/29	Audible	Todd Pletcher	Street Sense S.
87	Private Desire	AQU	11/5	Constitution	Todd Pletcher	Nashua S.
86	Resilience	CD	10/1	Into Mischief	Bill Mott	MSW
86	Blown Cover	IND	10/25	Gun Runner	Brad Cox	MSW
86	Thedingoateyobaby	DEL	10/14	Bernardini	Brittany Russell	Rocky Run S.
86	Regalo	LRL	12/9	Maximus Mischief	Brittany Russell	AOC
86	Dune Road	AQU	12/8	Speightstown	Carlos Martin	MCL
86	Justifreak	CD	11/12	Justify	Eddie Kenneally	MSW
86	Sea Streak	GP	12/9	Sea Wizard	Eddie Owens Jr.	AOC
86	Chisparrajos	GP	12/9	Blame	Fausto Gutierrez	AOC
86	Better Than Gold	DMR	12/2	Nyquist	Gary Mandella	MSW
86	Lat Long	KEE	10/14	Liam's Map	Kenny McPeek	MSW
86	One Sharp Cookie	GP	11/25	Sharp Azteca	Saffie Joseph Jr.	MSW
86	Informed Patriot	CD	10/29	Hard Spun	Steve Asmussen	Street Sense S.
86	Be You	SA	10/7	Curlin	Todd Pletcher	American Pharoah S.
85	Resilience	CD	11/12	Into Mischief	Bill Mott	MSW
85	Imagination	DMR	12/2	Into Mischief	Bob Baffert	MSW
85	Raguel	CD	11/25	Justify	Brendan Walsh	MSW
85	Sierra Leone	AQU	11/4	Gun Runner	Chad Brown	MSW
85	Ice Express	IND	11/10	Keen Ice	George Leonard III	MSW
85	Tapalo	DMR	12/2	Tapiture	John Sadler	MSW
85	Footprint	CD	11/9	Dialed In	Kenny McPeek	AOC
85	Real Men Violin	CD	9/15	Mendelssohn	Kenny McPeek	MSW
85	B D Saints	BAQ	10/29	Laoban	Linda Rice	Sleepy Hollow S.
85	Workislife	IND	10/25	Speightster	Marcus O'Donnell	MSW
85	Lagynos	CD	11/25	Kantharos	Steve Asmussen	ALW
85	Noted	MTH	8/26	Cairo Prince	Todd Pletcher	Sapling S.
85	Eliminate	BAQ	10/27	Curlin	Todd Pletcher	MSW
85	Kitty Hawk	CD	11/12	Not This Time	Victoria H. Oliver	MSW
85	Cash Only	CD	11/19	Street Sense	William Walden	MCL

Next let's take a look at the fastest 2-year-old sprints in terms of HRN speed figures. Although some of the names from the above list are on here, there are also other names of runners who may be less developed at this point.

The top two names should be familiar in Rhyme Schemes, a son of Ghostzapper who won the Saratoga Special (G2) for Norm Casse, and Nysos, who recently won the Bob Hope Stakes (G3) at Del Mar for trainer Bob Baffert.

Trainers with the most individual runners on this list include Brad Cox and Steve Asmussen, with eight each, and Bob Baffert with seven.

In terms of sires, the ones represented with the most runners include Into Mischief, with five, Good Magic (four), Speightstown (four), Justify (three), Nyquist (three) and Omaha Beach (three).

Top 100 speed figures of 2023 - 2-year-old dirt sprints

HRN	Horse	Trk	Date	Sire	Trainer	Race
106	Rhyme Schemes	ELP	6/15	Ghostzapper	Norm Casse	MSW
105	Nysos	DMR	11/19	Nyquist	Bob Baffert	Bob Hope S.
105	Air of Defiance	KEE	10/18	Quality Road	Brad Cox	MSW
103	General Partner	SAR	9/2	Speightstown	Chad Brown	MSW
103	Book'em Danno	MTH	9/9	Bucchero	Derek Ryan	Smoke Glacken S.
103	Fierceness	SAR	8/25	City of Light	Todd Pletcher	MSW
102	Prince of Monaco	DMR	8/13	Speightstown	Bob Baffert	Best Pal S.
102	Stovall	DED	11/9	Half Ours	Samuel Breaux	ALW
101	El Capi	AQU	12/2	Maclean's Music	Rick Dutrow Jr.	MSW
101	Gold Sweep	BEL	6/11	Speightstown	Steve Asmussen	Tremont S.
101	Booth	KEE	10/7	Mitole	Steve Asmussen	MSW
100	Heartland	DMR	7/29	Justify	Bob Baffert	MSW
100	Just Steel	SAR	8/5	Justify	D. Wayne Lukas	MSW
100	Private Desire	BAQ	9/16	Constitution	Todd Pletcher	MSW
100	Be You	SAR	8/5	Curlin	Todd Pletcher	MSW
100	Knightsbridge	CD	11/4	Nyquist	Bill Mott	MSW
99	Book'em Danno	BAQ	10/8	Bucchero	Derek Ryan	Futurity S.
99	Mystik Dan	CD	11/12	Goldencents	Kenny McPeek	MSW
99	Uncle Heavy	PRX	10/23	Social Inclusion	Robert Reid Jr.	MSW
99	Twilight Dancer	PRX	10/23	Tapiture	Scott Lake	MSW
98	Nysos	SA	10/21	Nyquist	Bob Baffert	MSW
98	Awesome Road	ELP	8/27	Quality Road	Brad Cox	MSW
98	Hurricane Nelson	BAQ	9/16	Khozan	Christophe Clement	MSW
98	Sea Streak	MTH	9/9	Sea Wizard	Eddie Owens Jr.	Smoke Glacken S.
98	Bentornato	GP	10/21	Valiant Minister	Jose D'Angelo	FL Sire Affirmed S.
98	Dewy's Beast	CNL	7/27	The Big Beast	Kelsey Danner	MSW
98	Guanare	AQU	11/30	Runhappy	Rick Dutrow Jr.	SOC
98	Otto the Conqueror	CD	10/29	Street Sense	Steve Asmussen	AOC
98	Carbone	CD	11/19	Mitole	Steve Asmussen	MSW
98	Valentine Candy	OP	12/8	Justify	Steve Asmussen	Advent S.
98	Risk It	SAR	8/19	Gun Runner	Steve Asmussen	MSW
97	Timberlake	ELP	7/21	Into Mischief	Brad Cox	MSW
97	Copper Tax	DEL	9/1	Copper Bullet	Gary Capuano	ALW
97	Slider	DMR	9/9	Jimmy Creed	John Sadler	MSW
96	Dive Bomber	SAR	9/2	Omaha Beach	Brad Cox	MSW
96	Glengarry	PRM	9/30	Maximus Mischief	Doug Anderson	Iowa Cradle S.
96	Copper Tax	LRL	11/11	Copper Bullet	Gary Capuano	James F. Lewis III S.
96	Magical Mark	DED	11/9	Good Magic	Karl Broberg	ALW
96	Jubawithatwist	CT	11/25	Juba	Kristy Petty	West Virginia Futurity
96	Whatchatalkinabout	FL	10/16	Dialed In	Wesley Ward	NY Breeders' Futurity
95	Prince of Monaco	DMR	9/10	Speightstown	Bob Baffert	Del Mar Futurity
95	Muth	SA	6/18	Good Magic	Bob Baffert	MSW
95	Crushed It	OP	12/8	Dialed In	Brad Cox	MSW
95	Legalize	CD	11/25	Constitution	Cherie DeVaux	MSW
95	Texas Town	OP	12/8	Speightstown	Chris Hartman	MSW
95	Just Steel	CD	11/25	Justify	D. Wayne Lukas	Ed Brown S.
95	Little Ni	DEL	10/20	Mohaymen	Eddie Owens Jr.	MSW
95	Copper Tax	DEL	9/27	Copper Bullet	Gary Capuano	ALW
95	Inveigled	LRL	11/11	Enticed	Jane Cibelli	James F. Lewis III S.
95	Slider	DMR	7/29	Jimmy Creed	John W. Sadler	MSW
95	Nyquist Frequency	KEE	10/18	Nyquist	Jordan Blair	MSW
95	Boy Magic	DEL	8/24	Good Magic	Jorge Delgado	MSW
95	Bentornato	GP	9/9	Valiant Minister	Jose D'Angelo	FL Sire Dr. Fager S.
95	Rhyme Schemes	SAR	8/12	Ghostzapper	Norm Casse	Saratoga Special S.
95	Normandy Hero	KEE	10/7	Omaha Beach	Rodolphe Brisset	AOC
94	Goodlookinjustice	IND	10/26	Street Boss	Aaron West	ALW
94	Muth	DMR	8/13	Good Magic	Bob Baffert	Best Pal S.
94	Molly's Town	IND	8/17	Mo Town	Genaro Garcia	ALW
94	Bolt of Aurum	LRL	11/11	Bolt d'Oro	Jorge Duarte Jr.	James F. Lewis III S.
94	Drewmania	DED	11/15	St Patrick's Day	Lonnie Briley	MSW
94	Locked	SAR	8/5	Gun Runner	Todd Pletcher	MSW
94	Spirit's Mischief	KEE	10/20	Into Mischief	Wesley Ward	MSW
93	Ultra Power	LRC	9/24	Curlin	Bob Baffert	MSW
93	Notice of Action	PRX	10/25	Hoppertunity	Bobbi Anne Hawthorne	AOC
93	Sea Streak	BAQ	10/1	Sea Wizard	Eddie Owens Jr	MSW
93	Inveigled	LRL	10/5	Enticed	Jane Cibelli	MSW
93	Mattingly	GP	10/21	Bucchero	Joe Orseno	FL Sire Affirmed S.
93	The Wine Steward	BEL	5/28	Vino Rosso	Mike Maker	MSW
93	Going Up	CNL	8/5	Mineshaft	Ron Potts	Hickory Tree S.
93	Valentine Candy	KEE	10/7	Justify	Steve Asmussen	AOC
93	Lucky Jeremy	CD	10/29	Lookin At Lucky	Bill Morey	MSW
92	Gabarra	CT	10/20	Air Force Blue	Anthony Farrior	MSW
92	Knicks Storm	KEE	10/18	Dialed In	Ben Colebrook	MCL
92	Mirahmadi	DMR	9/10	Into Mischief	Bob Baffert	Del Mar Futurity
92	Alder	ELP	8/20	Hard Spun	Brad Cox	MSW
92	Rocketeer	KEE	10/26	Curlin	Brad Cox	MSW
92	Hurricane Nelson	GP	10/21	Khozan	Christophe Clement	Fla. Sire Affirmed S.
92	Agoo	KEE	10/22	Munnings	Whitworth Beckman	MSW
92	Circle P	LRL	12/2	Speightster	Flint Stites	Maryland Juvenile S.
92	Googol Joke	FG	11/24	Practical Joke	Ignacio Correas IV	MSW
92	Frosty View	DED	11/9	Frosted	Joel Berndt	ALW
92	Bentornato	GP	8/12	Valiant Minister	Jose D'Angelo	Proud Man S.
92	Okie Smoke	RP	12/7	Caleb's Posse	Juan Padilla	MSW
92	Phantom Speed	FG	11/24	Arrogate	Michael Stidham	MSW
92	Stronghold	ELP	8/27	Ghostzapper	Philip D'Amato	MSW
92	Normandy Hero	ELP	8/12	Omaha Beach	Rodolphe Brisset	MSW
92	Merit	GP	11/4	Mastery	Saffie Joseph Jr.	MSW
92	Carpis	FG	12/9	Star Guitar	Sam David Jr.	MSW
92	Bye Bye Liam	CD	10/29	Bolt d'Oro	Steve Asmussen	MSW
92	El Magnifico	CD	11/25	Street Sense	Steve Asmussen	MSW
91	Pastor T	DMR	8/12	Into Mischief	Bob Baffert	MSW
91	Orange Diablo	CD	10/29	Union Rags	Brad Cox	MSW
91	Honor Marie	CD	10/29	Honor Code	Whitworth Beckman	AOC
91	E J Won the Cup	DMR	9/9	Omaha Beach	Doug O'Neill	MSW
91	Baxley	HAW	9/3	Klimt	Larry Rivelli	MSW
91	Stolen Magic	AQU	11/17	Good Magic	Linda Rice	MSW
91	El Grande O	BAQ	9/24	Take Charge Indy	Linda Rice	Bertram F. Bongard S.
91	The Wine Steward	ELP	7/2	Vino Rosso	Mike Maker	Bashford Manor S.
91	Bowstreet	CD	10/29	Into Mischief	Paulo Lobo	MSW
91	Roar Ready	GP	11/11	Do the Roar	Ruben Sierra	MSW

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Top speed figures of 2023: 2-year-olds on dirt

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