Graded Stakes Results & Ratings - March 19th, 2013

We're almost a quarter of the way through the 2013 racing season, a season in which we've already witnessed some very good performances on both dirt and turf. Last weekend, Bright Thought set a world record for a mile and a half race when he won the San Luis Rey in a scorching 2:22.72 over firm ground at Santa Anita. Obviously, the Santa Anita turf course was extremely fast when you consider that Secretariat ran his historic Belmont Stakes in 2:24 flat. Also out west, Game On Dude has dominated his last two races at Santa Anita and ranks at the top of all dirt runners so far this season.

I've updated all the results in our handy, dandy graded stakes file with ratings from the various speed figure/performance ratings, which you can find via the links below.

Beyer Speed Figures (DRF)
Bris Speed Figures (Brisnet)
Equibase Speed Figures (Equibase)
Performance Figures (Chef de Race)
Racing Post Ratings (Racing Post)

You can find the complete list of top three graded stakes finishers for 2013, along with the individual horse ratings for those same horses on both dirt and turf at the Google Drive link below. The El Camino Real Derby is the only graded stakes races on a synthetic surface so far in 2013, so we'll wait to start computing a synthetic rating until the sample size gets a little bigger.

2013 Graded Stakes Results & Ratings

I've broken down the Top 5 horses on dirt by each speed figure/performance rating below as a comparison across the differing systems.

A few thoughts on the figs from each system so far in 2013:

• There is pretty much universal agreement among the systems that Game On Dude's wins in the Santa Anita Handicap and the San Antonio are two of the best performances this year. Beyer, Performance Figures and the Racing Post Ratings have those two races as the two best on dirt so far in 2013. Bris ranks them #2 and #3, while Equibase has them #3 and #4.
  
  I think, generally, we can feel confident that Game On Dude has been the most consistent, high-level runner this season, so far.
• I found it interesting that Bris ranks Joyful Victory's win in the Santa Margarita as the best graded stakes performance in 2013 to this point. (Remember, these are only the figures earned in graded stakes; events like the Sunshine Millions Classic are not included.) Beyer has Joyful Victory's race at #3, while neither Equibase, Performance Figures or the Racing Post Ratings have that race in their Top 5.
• The other top distaffer in early 2013, Royal Delta, ranks in the Top 5 with Equibase and the Racing Post Ratings.

I combined the ratings under each system and computed a Horse Rating and a Race Rating for each of the top 3 finishers this season in all dirt and turf graded stakes. Below are the Top 5 and Bottom 5 individual Horse Ratings under this calculation at this point. The full list can be found on the Google Drive document. Par equals '100'.