Which Was The Fastest Horse Ever?

One of the great debates in all of horse racing is which horse was the fastest of all time. Believe it or not the question is not as easy to answer as you might think it is. It is a subjective question that many horse racing fans believe contains a lot of variables. EZ Horse Betting is going to try to break down the debate and arrive at a conclusion about which was the fastest horse ever.

THOROUGHBRED SPEED AND GUINNESS RECORDS

Thoroughbred horses are amazing animals. Race speed depends on the distance and whether the number is a peak reading or an average over the entire race. A sprint speed cannot simply be projected over a mile. That performance is impressive, but cross-species comparisons require a defined distance and measurement method. Thoroughbred horses also manage this while carrying from 112-120 pounds or more on their back. The carried weight is another reason to specify the conditions behind a record.

For many years there have been records kept of finish times in horse racing. In most cases these are the records that we have to assess speed. But if we turn to the Guinness Book of World Records we can also find some insight into which was the fastest horse ever. Guinness has long been the official source of world records in many different types of contests.

A horse named Winning Brew is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest race horse over a distance of two furlongs or ¼ mile. Winning Brew was determined to have averaged 43.71 mph for that stretch. Does this mean Winning Brew was the fastest horse ever? Critics will point out several reasons why this is not the case.

Quarterhorses are also race horses of a sort. They compete in quarterhorse races against their own breed. A quarterhorse is built to show an impressive burst of speed over short distances. These are also the types of horses that are used in timed rodeo events such as barrel racing and calf roping. There are many people who will claim that most quarterhorses could do better than 43.71 mph over a short distance. Does this mean that a quarterhorse is a candidate for the fastest horse ever?

What About Secretariat?

One name that always comes to mind when discussing the fastest racehorse of all time is the legendary Secretariat. Big Red has a strong claim when the discussion is limited to sustained classic-race performance. The horse is credited with setting track records in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. Secretariat won the Belmont by 31 lengths in a feat that has never been duplicated.

The track records that Secretariat set in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes still stand as records today. In fact, they are more than that. They are benchmarks by which all other horses are judged in terms of speed. Beyer Speed Figures are not percentages of Secretariat’s speed or a scale defined by assigning him 130. Daily Racing Form explains that the calculation uses final time, distance and the track variant; beaten horses also receive adjustments for their finishing margins. A published 100 is a figure on that system’s scale, not a claim that the horse ran at a particular percentage of Big Red’s pace.

So, is Secretariat the fastest horse ever? Maybe. Some are going to dispute that and say that Secretariat is the fastest without question. Unfortunately, this does not hold water if we look at the dynamics of horse racing and start to poke holes in the theory.

Why It’s Hard to Pick the Fastest Race Horse Ever

If we were able to line up all the great race horses of history and have them run in a race against one another, maybe it would be easier for us to determine which one was the fastest. All we would need to do is note who won the race, right?

Not exactly. The fact is that if you ran a race like that ten times you could very well end up with ten different results. The reason for this is that there are so many variables that could work against a horse’s speed. The jockey could give the horse a bad ride. The horse could find itself in traffic and cut off while trying to make a move. The track surface could play a role. There are just too many variables to say with any certainty that one horse is the fastest of all time based on one race performance.

There is where the real problem comes in. We need to be able to look at speed over many races, not just one, to get an idea for which was the fastest race horse ever. If we can determine that one horse consistently ran faster than other horses in history, then we might be on the track of nailing down the answer to this speed question.

Speed Records and What They Mean for Betting

The question of which horse was the fastest ever is more complex than it might appear, because raw speed comparisons across eras require adjusting for the dramatic improvements in track surfaces, training methods, equipment, and veterinary care that have occurred over the past century. A horse that ran a specific time in 1920 was doing so on a very different track, with very different shoeing, and after very different preparation than a horse running the same time today. These contextual differences make direct comparison treacherous and explain why most racing historians prefer to evaluate greatness through competition — how a horse performed against the best contemporaries of its era — rather than through raw time comparisons.

For bettors, the concept of speed relative to era and conditions is directly applicable to everyday handicapping. Speed figures that normalise for track variant and surface conditions allow genuine comparisons between horses that have raced on different days and at different venues — essentially solving the same problem that historical comparisons face, but over a shorter and more manageable timeframe. Two 95 Beyers are intended to describe comparable final-time performances on the same rating scale. They do not guarantee identical ability next time or automatically account for every effect of wet ground, pace, traffic and a horse’s individual surface preference. This normalisation is what makes speed figures the most widely used handicapping tool in modern American racing. For more on using speed figures effectively, our article on betting speed figures in horse racing covers the practical application. And our guide to the 12 greatest race horses of all time evaluates equine greatness across eras.

If We Had to Choose One Horse for Fastest of All Time

EZ Horse Betting thinks there are many great race horses that are worthy of being named the fastest of all time. The title of our article sort of leads you to believe that we are going to make a choice, though, so we will. In our opinion it is Secretariat that would probably merit the distinction of fastest horse ever, despite the arguments that we made earlier.

Here’s why. Secretariat can claim one thing that other horses cannot. His 1973 classic times provide an exceptional set of sustained race performances, rather than proof that he was fastest worldwide over every distance and surface. Track records in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes are nothing to sneeze at. Until another horse can make that same claim, we think it is hard to say any horse was faster than Big Red. Check our Bovada racebook review, Twinspires review or even our Betamerica review. Availability depends on your location and the operator’s current eligibility rules. online racebook comparison to compare current coverage and terms.

Do you have a choice for the fastest race horse of all time? If so, let us know in the comments which one that you would choose. Also feel free to share our article so that your friends can also give their opinion.

Other topics:

• Top Ten Horse Racing Secrets

Three different meanings of “fastest”

For example, a quarter-mile in 20.57 seconds averages about 43.75 mph using that rounded distance and time. Guinness publishes 43.71 mph for Winning Brew’s record; retain the source’s figure rather than treating small rounding differences as a new record. See the record entry and DRF’s figure explanation.