home heza hero mares fillies & colts CONTACTS email 972-932-2110 our program horses wanted at the show ranch photos

	HEZA HERO SI-87	H E Z A   H E R O

Is Speed Index Important When Considering a Barrel Horse Prospect, Stallion or Broodmare? ............if you ask "Scamper", "Rocky", "Hotshot", French Flash Hawk AKA "Bozo", El Nino Money, "Sanjo", Junior's Genuine Doc, Uno Commander, Marvins Wonder AKA "Potato Chip", Frenchman's Guy, Firewater Flit, Willie Nick Bar, Firewater Fanny, and other famous barrel horses and sires with no speed index or a lower speed index...............NOT SO IMPORTANT. That's right! Those barrel horses and thier sires either didn't race or had speed indexes under 90 I almost forgot.....RARE FRED (2006 NFR Champion Barrel Horse). His SIRE did not race; his DAM had an SI of 69 Don't Get Too Focused on Speed Index By barrel horse standards, the success of many of the barrel industry's top competitors (horses and trainers alike) tells us that speed index should only carry a proportional significance (if any) to Confirmation - Desire - Athleticism - Intelligence. Speed Indexes of barrel racing champions, sires and tier dams range from no index at all to as high as 114+. Therefore, Speed Index (High, Medium, Low, or None) may or may not make any difference in the success of a barrel horse, sire, or broodmare. Still Think Speed Index Is Important.........consider this! Barrel Racing Vs. Horse Racing - The shortest distance a quarter horse travels in a horse race is 220 to 350 yards (for short sprints), 400 to 660 (for long sprints), or 870 to 1000 yards (for distance races). The longest distance a barrel horse travels is between the 3rd barrel and the timer, about 75 yards in most cases (see the barrel pattern). Base your barrel breeding decision on traits that are more applicable to barrel racing. Conformation - Desire - Athleticism - Intelligence

WHAT IS SPEED INDEX? (Back to Top) The average horseman/horsewoman may not know that there are actually 3 types of speed indexes; track speed index, best speed index and average speed index. The Track's Speed Index is the speed standard by which every horse that races on it is measured. Speed index ratings are based on an average of the three fastest winning electric times run each year for the immediate past three years for each distance at each track. The average of the nine times (to the nearest 1/1000 (.001) of a second) will represent a speed index rating of 100 for that particular track. Best Speed Index (SI or Best SI) as seen in the racing totals section on a horses performance pedigree or in their advertising only reflects the 'best speed index' the horse achieved in one particular race, at one track, even though the horse may have had multiple starts at multiple tracks with multiple speed indexes (or scores). See below "racing totals" section taken from Heza Fast Man's performance pedigree. Average Speed Index , which is not readily available on most performance pedigrees, takes some research to acquire but is a more accurate assessment of a horses speed as it takes into account all of his/her races on all tracks and under varying track conditions. The only way to acquire a horse's average speed index is to average all the speed index ratings (or scores) achieved at all of his recorded races. See below, "Lifetime Race Record" for Heza Fast Man showing his Best SI of 111. The SI rating is boxed for convenience.

(Back to Top)

OFFICIAL MINIMUM STANDARD TIME IS THE DISTANCE AND TIME A HORSE HAS TO RUN TO EARN A 100 SPEED INDEX RATING (TIMES VARY TRACK TO TRACK) 220 yards - straightaway 11.95 SEC 250 yards - straightaway 13.35 SEC 300 yards - straightaway 15.55 SEC 330 yards - straightaway 16.95 SEC 350 yards - straightaway 17.85 SEC 400 yards - straightaway 20.15 SEC 440 yards - straightaway 22.05 SEC 550 yards - straightaway 27.70 SEC 660 yards - straightaway 33.50 SEC

A SPEED INDEX POINT VARIES ACCORDING TO THE DISTANCE OF THE RACE AS FOLLOWS   .022 equals one speed index point at 220 yards. .025 equals one speed index point at 250 yards. .03 equals one speed index point at 300 yards. .033 equals one speed index point at 330 yards. .035 equals one speed index point at 350 yards. .04 equals one speed index point at 400 yards. .044 equals one speed index point at 440 yards. .055 equals one speed index point at 550 yards. .066 equals one speed index point at 660 yards.

For Example (using the 220 yard index benchmark) A horse running 11.95 seconds in a 220 yard race will earn a 100 speed index rating as this was the track's speed index at 220 yards. A horse running 11.928 (or 0.022 faster) (11.95 - 0.022 seconds) in a 220 yard race at the same track would earn a 101 speed index rating. A horse running 0.022 slower (11.972 sec) would earn a 99 speed index rating.

home heza hero mares fillies & colts CONTACTS email 972-932-2110 our program horses wanted at the show ranch photos