What Is Beyer Speed Figure Articles | Horse Betting

By: Richard Bleuze

What Is Beyer Speed Figure

Andrew Beyer is known as the father of the Beyer Speed Figure.  Andrew Beyer is a world famous handicapper and columnist.  Andrew Beyer, is a longtime racing columnist for The Washington Post, and still contributes occasionally to that newspaper and to Daily Racing Form while continuing to play the races from Gulfstream Park, Del Mar, and the den of his Washington, D.C., home.  His book, Picking Winners, revolutionized handicapping with the introduction and explanation of speed figures.  The book was first published in 1975.  The idea behind speed figures is simple,  it is that the easiest way to measure one race horse against another is by how fast it runs.  Andrew Beyer devised a system that assigns a number, which is called a speed figure, to each horse's performance in a race. As a rule, if every horse ran over a standard surface at the same distance we could compare their speeds simply by looking at their finishing times.  Andrew Beyer's idea is to be able to compare horses who run over different surfaces (fast tracks, slow tracks, etc.) and different distances.  In theory, at least, a horse that earns a 100 speed figure running 7 furlongs at Keeneland should be faster than a horse that earns a 92 running one mile at Saratoga. 

The creation or computation of Beyer Speed figures is a laborious and time consuming process.  However, thankfully, the figures are published in the Daily Racing Form, and the average handicapper can take advantage of them without spending hours compiling data.  This is a great time saver for most horse bettors. 

The process used to create Beyer's speed figures involves creating par times for races.  If a large number of $10,000 claiming races at different tracks are compiled and it is determined that the average winning time at six furlongs is 1:12 and 1:45 for 1 1/16 mile races, then it can be assumed that those two times would have the same speed rating.  Lets say they earn a speed rating of 70.  The other piece of the puzzle is to look at track variants.  Some tracks are inherently fast or slow.  Keeneland is a track that is notoriously fast, so a $10,000 claimer that runs 6 furlongs in 1:10 at Keeneland would have to have his figure adjusted downward to compensate for the fast track he is running on. The opposite is true if a horse is running on a slow track.  That horse would have his figure raised in compensation.  Therefore, figures are adjusted for fast and slow tracks as well as daily variants used to account for the daily changes in the racing surface.

Many horse handicappers often equate a speed figure with a race level and in general a horse that runs in the high 100's is a stakes caliber horse, while one who earns figures in the 80-90 range may be a high priced claimer and a horse who earns a speed figure in the low 50's may be a $5,000 claimer.

Beyer Speed Figures is a very important handicapping tool but even Andrew Beyer himself would tell you that you cannot rely on speed figures alone.  Beyer Speed Figures  are just one of many valuable tools that you should use to handicap a race.  Automatically giving the edge to a horse that earned a 90 rating in his last race over the horse that earned an 80 could be a huge mistake if the horse that earned the 80 had a horrible trip, bad ride, and broke slow.

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