TurfPedia - The Horse Racing Encyclopedia

SPEED

The most important attribute of a racehorse's ability, or class, and one of the two most important factors in claiming races. Pace is the other.

Measured as final time, but not actual time. Actual times are poor indicators of speed for various reasons. So speed handicappers adjust the actual times of races and horses, and convert times to speed figures.

Speed figures help handicappers make several vital comparisons.
Compare horses that show the same or similar actual times.
Compare horses that have competed at different distances.
Compare horses that have competed on different race days.
Compare horses that have competed at different racetracks.
Compare horses that have competed against various paces.

Three critical concepts of speed handicapping.
Par times
Daily Track Variants
Projected Times

The two most popular approaches to speed handicapping are:
Beyer Speed
Quirin Speed and Pace

Speed is never unimportant, but it's more important and decisive in claiming races

Speed Handicapping is more reliable on the main track (dirt) than on the turf course (grass). Different kinds of speed figures often will be preferable in grass races around two turns.
Late speed on the Turf