Speed+: speed and sectional data speed data for British racing

Where does the Speed+ speed and sectional data data come from?

Speed+ is built on speed and sectional data tracking of runners at British courses with tracking installed, supplied by Total Performance Data (speed and sectional data). RaceWatch holds the data for runs from 2025 onwards.

Each horse carries a small tracking unit in its saddle cloth, which records its position several times a second through the race. From that stream come the horse's speed at every point, the distance it actually travelled and its position relative to the rest of the field.

Coverage is British only and starts in 2025, so Speed+ is empty for runs at Irish and other untracked courses, for runs before 2025 and for horses that have not raced at a tracked course. For those horses, the rest of the racecard and profile still tell the story; Speed+ adds a layer where it exists.

How do I read a single run in Speed+?

A single run is drawn as a speed curve: the horse's speed at each point from the start to the line. Where the curve rises the horse quickened, where it holds it kept up its pace, and where it falls it weakened.

Every race has a shape. Most races start quickly as horses break and find a position, settle into a steadier middle section, then build to a finish. The speed curve shows where one horse fitted into that pattern, and the race speed view shows the same for the whole field.

The most useful thing to look for is the end of the curve. Two horses beaten the same distance can have run very differently: one closing fast from a poor position, the other fading after doing too much early. The curve tells them apart when the result cannot.

What is the difference between peak speed and finishing speed?

Peak speed is the fastest a horse travelled at any point in a race. Finishing speed describes the closing stage, which is usually the better guide to stamina and to how the race was run.

A horse can post a high peak speed early in a race run at a strong gallop and still fade to finish well beaten. Another can have a modest peak but keep going to the line. Finishing speed, read against how fast the race was run early, separates the two.

Race shape is the context. A slowly run race produces fast finishing speeds from everyone because they have energy left, while a strongly run race punishes those who went too fast. Speed+ shows the race shape beside each run, so a strong finish in a fast run race can be given more credit than the same finish in a dawdle.

What do the Speed+ grades on a horse profile show?

The Speed+ section on a horse profile gives a Speed+ rating, consistency and efficiency grades, peak against typical, the race shape of recent runs and the speed curve.

The Speed+ rating gives the horse's overall speed level from its tracked races. The consistency grade shows how reliable that level is from run to run, and the efficiency grade adds a second view of how the horse ran, so read the two together rather than either one alone.

Peak against typical sets the horse's best tracked level beside its usual one. A big gap means the best figure may have been a one off; a small gap means the horse runs close to its best most times. Reading these together tells you what level to expect, not just what the horse has done once.

• Speed+ rating: the overall speed level
• Consistency grade: how reliable that level is
• Efficiency grade: read alongside consistency
• Peak v typical: best level against usual level
• Race shape: how each run's race was run

How does Speed+ Explorer work?

Speed+ Explorer has two views: a horse speed profile, which gathers one horse's tracked runs, and a race speed view, which lays out a whole tracked race runner by runner.

The horse view answers what kind of runner a horse is: does it quicken, grind, or run its race early. The race view answers how a race was run and who ran above or below the result. A horse that finished fifth but ran the fastest closing section in a race run against it is one to note for next time.

A runner spotted in a race view can then be followed in Tracker+, so its next declaration is not missed. Used this way, Speed+ becomes a source of horses to watch: runners whose speed and sectional data data says they ran better than the bare result, waiting for a race that suits.

Which courses and dates does Speed+ cover?

Speed+ covers British courses with speed and sectional data tracking installed, for runs from 2025 onwards. Irish racecourses and runs before 2025 are outside the dataset.

Because the data starts in 2025, older horses may have many runs without speed and sectional data data and only a few with it, while horses that started racing since then may have most of their career tracked. Always check how many tracked runs sit behind a Speed+ grade before leaning on it.

Each new run at a tracked British course adds to the picture. A grade built on one or two runs is a first impression; a grade built on many runs is a far more settled picture of how the horse races, so check the sample before trusting a grade.

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