Arrogate’s Travers victory earns Brisnet.com’s Highest Rating Ever

Arrogate won the $1.25-million Travers Stakes on Saturday August 27, at Saratoga Race Course. In doing so, he not only defeated the top 3-year-olds of 2016 but also all other horses who have raced since January 1, 1990, when Brisnet.com started assigning Speed Ratings to races.

Arrogate’s 13 ½-length victory in 1:59.36 buried the track record at the Graveyard of Champions and earned the fastest Brisnet.com Speed Rating ever – a 124 to best the previous top of 122 earned by Fabulous Strike in November 2006 at Mountaineer. A Speed Rating standardizes performances to allow fans to better compare races across tracks, distances, and surfaces.

“We didn’t need Arrogate’s superlative Speed Rating to tell us just how special his Travers Stakes performance was, but it certainly helps give the race historical context,” Brisnet.com Director of Marketing Ed DeRosa said. “It had been nearly nine years since a horse eclipsed the 120 barrier, and more than 5 years since at least a 118, so this truly was remarkable from a generational standpoint.”

There are more than 52,000 stakes races rated in Brisnet.com’s database, and Arrogate is just the ninth horse to earn at least a 120 Speed Rating.

“What he did [in the Travers] is pretty incredible,” trainer Bob Baffert said. “He looks like a superstar in the making. I think the fans will remember watching a horse like this because I know performances like this are very rare.”

Baffert trains Arrogate for Prince Khalid Abdullah’s Juddmonte Farms, which bought the son of Unbridled’s Song for $560,000 at the 2014 Keeneland September yearling sale. Baffert also trained another horse prominent on Brisnet.com’s fastest-ever list: Congaree. That son of Arazi is the only horse to run 118 or better twice. Horses of the Year Curlin and Ghostzapper both ran 117 or better twice.

From a more contemporary standpoint, Arrogate’s 124 Speed Rating is 7 points better than the 117 Noble Bird earned for winning the Pimlico Special this year at Pimlico Race Course. Breeders’ Cup Classic favorite California Chrome is the only horse this year with multiple ratings of at least 109.

Speed Ratings are available in the Ultimate Past Performances on Brisnet.com and are free to TwinSpires.com players when they wager.

TwinSpires.com is the official wagering site of the Kentucky Derby, Breeders’ Cup, and the Churchill Downs Inc. family of tracks. To open an account, visit TwinSpires.com, call 1-877-SPIRES-1 (1-877-774-7371), or download our app from the Apple/iTunes Store.