Beyer Speed Figures

The Beyer Speed Figure is a rating assigned to every race by every horse in the United States and is incorporated in the Daily Racing Form past performances. It takes into account the time of a horse's performance and the inherent speed of the racing surface. The average winning Beyer Speed Figure in the Kentucky Derby is 108. In this year's field, the only entrant with a Derby-worthy figure is Bodemeister, who earned a 108 while winning the Arkansas Derby in his most recent start. Until that performance, this had looked like a distinctly sub par crop of 3-year-olds. None of the other Derby starters has ever run a figure better than 102. Winning Derby figures since 1987:

Year	Horse	BSF
1987	Alysheba	104
1988	Winning Colors	113
1989	Sunday Silence	101
1990	Unbridled	116
1991	Strike the Gold	107
1992	Lil E. Tee	107
1993	Sea Hero	105
1994	Go for Gin	112
1995	Thunder Gulch	108
1996	Grindstone	112
1997	Silver Charm	115
1998	Real Quiet	107
1999	Charismatic	108
2000	Fusaichi Pegasus	108
2001	Monarchos	116
2002	War Emblem	114
2003	Funny Cide	108
2004	Smarty Jones	107
2005	Giacomo	100
2006	Barbaro	111
2007	Street Sense	111
2008	Big Brown	109
2009	Mine That Bird	105
2010	Super Saver	104
2011	Animal Kingdom	103

By Andrew Beyer - The Washington Post. Published May 2, 2012.