Beyer Speed Figures

Many of the better 2-year-olds haven't gotten cranked up yet, but the 3- and 4-year-old maidens continue to put up nice performances.   5 - MISS HELLFIRE, SA, 5/30-4th, 6 furlongs (video) Beyer Speed Figure- 85 (f, 4, by Sir Prancelot (Ire)-Missilette, by Golden Missile) O/B-Bryan and David Willson (Cal). T-Mike Puype. J-Kazushi Kimura. This romping debut win is a career highlight as a partnership for owner/breeders David Willson and his grandson Bryan. David is a longtime breeder and Bryan joined him in 2014 in the purchase of dam Missilette....

Thermal (Nyquist)'s list-topping 106 Beyer Speed Figure is tied with Mashallah for third-fastest of the year by a female, behind only Madison Stakes one-two finishers Eclatant (109) and Grand Job (108).   6 - GIGABIT, IND-6, May 21, Allowance, 5 furlongs Beyer Speed Figure- 92 (f, 3, by Dialed In--Adventurous Lady, by Kantharos) O-Lantern Hill Farm. B-Pursuit of Success (Ky). T-Rey Hernandez. J-Marcelino Pedroza Jr. Her half-sister Twirling Queen (Twirling Candy) improved markedly when switched from dirt to turf and Tapeta, but Gigabit seemed to go the other direction: her...

In horse racing, an exceptionally fast race will often involve not just a speedy winner, but others who run faster than usual trying to keep up. That phenomenon arises again in this week's list of fast females, featuring six horses from three races. 6--IRISH MAXIMA, BAQ, May 9, Ruffian Stakes-GII, 1m Beyer Speed Figure- 90 (video) (m, 5, Maximus Mischief--Palace Pier, by Out of Place) O-Irish Three Racing; B-Pillar Property Services (Ky); T-John Servis; J-Frankie Pennington. Once again, Irish Maxima proved that when she shakes loose to a clear early...

Topping this week's list: a homebred maiden who splashed to the fastest Beyer Speed Figure of the three-day Evangeline Downs week. 5. WHITE SMOKE RISING, BAQ, 5/7-5th, 6 1/2 furlongs (VIDEO) Beyer Speed Figure- 83 (c, 3, by Volatile--Little Cyclone, by City Zip) O-Albert Fried, Jr. B-Three Chimneys Farm (Ky). T-Charlton Baker. J-John Velazquez. He was probably unlucky to lose to 2-5 favorite Crossingthechannel in his first lifetime start back in early January, and that colt looks to have stakes-level talent. This time, White Smoke Rising looped rivals to pair...

We skipped last week as America focused on the Kentucky Derby, thus this slightly expanded list covering the last two weeks. 9) LOVELY EMMA, KEE, 4-22, Allowance, 5 1/2fT VIDEO Beyer Speed Figure-95 (f, 4, Twirling Candy--Salsa Diavola, by Mineshaft) O-C R K Stable. B-Nursery Place, Donaldson, Broadbent. T-Peter Eurton. J-Jose Ortiz. The Searing family's $600,000 yearling purchase appears ready to tackle stakes company now. This was her third consecutive win and third straight career-best Beyer. 8) SHOOT IT TRUE, CD, 5-1, GII Unbridled Sidney Stakes, 5fT VIDEO Beyer Speed...

Two of our top five were in action at Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Derby day card. 5) COUNTER MOVE, BAQ, 5/2-11th, 6fT VIDEO Beyer Speed Figure-87 (g, 4, Spun to Run--Gypsy Angel, by Silver Train) O/B-Sequel Racing/Sequel Thoroughbreds (NY). T-George Weaver. J-Dalila Rivera. After eight starts with two seconds and four third, but no wins, Weaver and owner Becky Thomas decided to try grass. Counter Move had little turf heritage. Spun to Run's progeny stats are solidly better on dirt, but you wouldn't know by the result. Counter Move...

TDN's Chief Correspondent Bill Finley is joined by Senior Contributing Editor Alan Carasso and Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack to handicap Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. FINLEY: The Puma (Essential Quality) is Mage (Good Magic) 2.0. From the same team that won the GI Kentucky Derby in 2023 with Mage, The Puma is following the exact same pattern. He finished an improved second in the GI Curlin Florida Derby and now looks ready to take another step forward, one that can land him in the winner's circle Saturday...

The GII Baird Doubledogdare Stakes and GIII Santa Maria Stakes were the highlights of last week among the distaff set, at least from a Beyer Speed Figure perspective.   6. OVERSUBSCRIBED (GB), AQU, 4/17, Plenty of Grace Stakes, 1 mile (turf) (VIDEO) Beyer Speed Figure - 91 (2nd) (m, 5, by Too Darn Hot (GB)-Zurigha (Ire), by Cape Cross (Ire)) O-Klaravich Stables. B-Rabbah Bloodstock Limited (GB). T-Chad Brown. J-Manny Franco. She probably isn't one of the premier Brown turf females, but she has been spotted judiciously enough to be twice...

Topping the list (technically it's at the bottom) are the 1-2-3 finishers from Keeneland's Madison Stakes, deeper in quality than any race so far this year. 6--MUNNINGS EXPRESS, AQU, Apr 4--WON, 6 1/2 furlongs Beyer Speed Figure--90 (video) (f, 4, Munnings--Freudie Anne, by Freud) O-Team Spoor; B-Fergus Galvin, Marc Detampel, Jayne Johnson & Adrian Wallace (NY); T-Linda Rice; J-Jose Lezcano. Aqueduct's runaway leading trainer Rice stuffed the entry box with 11 runners on Wood Memorial day and came away with four winners, including Richard Spoor's ascending New York-bred filly who...

It was a fantastic week for fast maidens--the top five all registered 92+ on the Beyer scale. 5) OUT OF THE WOODS, OP, 4/3-7th, 1 1/16m VIDEO Beyer Speed Figure-92 (g, 3, Constitution--Sensitive, by Divine Park) O-Little Red Feather Racing, Madaket Stables, Panic Stable and William Strauss. B-Daniel Burke and Kathleen Burke Schweizer (Ky). T-Phil D'Amato. J-Ramon Vazquez. After repeatedly running into Baffert buzzsaws, Out of the Woods was sent to Oaklawn for higher purses and softer maidens. His recent sharp breezes indicated the change might be positive, and he...

The GI Arkansas Derby undercard at Oaklawn Saturday produced two of the top five fastest maidens of the last week, while Pretty Boy Mia (Beau Liam) outran his auction tag with a dominant win at Aqueduct to garner the list's top spot. 5) FLEEK, OP, 3/28-12th, 1 1/8m VIDEO Beyer Speed Figure-81 (c, 3, Flat Out--On Fleek, by Curlin) O-Poindexter Thoroughbreds. B-Allen Poindexter (Ky). T-Chris Hartman. J-Rafael Bejarano. In the race before the GI Arkansas Derby at the same distance, Fleek continued his steady improvement to win going away at...

5. LET'S BE FRANK, SA, 3/20-3rd, 1 mile (turf) (Video) Beyer Speed Figure - 83 (2nd) (c, 3, by Liam's Map--Proudly (Kor), by Alternation) O/B-Nice Guys Stables (Ky). T-Michael McCarthy. J-Hector Berrios. It won't tell you much that his dam Proudly earned 3.6 million South Korean won, which currently translates into $2,422. More telling is that Proudly has a recognizable full sister: Kentucky Oaks winner Serengeti Empress. The unraced Darley-bred dam of both females, Havisham, was four when she was unloaded for $5,000 and in 2016 had just dropped her...