In the world of horse racing, there are many fast horses with the average thoroughbred being able to reach around 37 mph. While most horses on the track are incredibly fast, there are a few that stand out in the field for their speed and record-breaking times.
This article outlines some of the fastest horses in horse racing, both previously and currently. Understanding the speeds that some horses can get to is a key part of knowing how horse racing odds work as the odds will always be in favor of the fastest horses.
Secretariat
When it comes to iconic horses it is hard to get bigger than Secretariat. He is considered one of the greatest racehorses of all time and even had a film named after him in 2010.
Secretariat was born in 1970 and while he would pass away a short 19 years later, he made a lasting impression. Secretariat won the Triple Crown in 1973 and set a record in all 3 races, of which he still holds the record at the Kentucky Derby.
At the Belmont Stakes, Secretariat won by an impressive 31 lengths. That race is considered one of the greatest of all time.
He won his first Horse of the Year honors when he was 2 which is rare and then won his second Horse of the Year honors the following year in 1973.
Man o’ War
If Secretariat is considered one of the greatest racehorses, then Man o’ War is the greatest on paper, ranking first on the list of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century.
He was born in 1917 and 3 years later he would be honored by the New York Times as Athlete of the Year alongside baseball player Babe Ruth.
Out of the 21 races he took part in, he only lost 1 and that was due to a poor start. Ironically, he lost this race to a horse named Upset.
A sign of Man o’ War’s talents is that he never won a Triple Crown but is still regarded as one of the greatest. He never raced in the Kentucky Derby because his owner believed the 10 furlough distance was too far for a young horse.
During his short career, Man ‘o War set 3 world records, 2 American records, and 2 track records.
Man o’ War was also the grandsire to the 1938 Horse of the Year, Seabiscuit.
Winning Brew
Winning Brew was born in 2006, and while she has had a relatively short and unimpressive career having won 2 races out of 9, she technically holds the world record for the fastest horse.
At just 2 years old, Winning Brew got the Guinness world record for running 70.76 kilometers per hour across 2 furloughs.
The previous record was held by Hawkster who reached 60.86 kilometers per hour in 1989.
Zenyatta
Born in 2004, Zenyatta is considered one of the greatest fillies of all time. Out of her 20 total races, Zenyatta came in first in all her races apart from her last one in 2010 where she came second.
Compared to other horses, Zenyatta had a relatively late start at the age of 3. Her career lasted until 2010 and in her final year, she won Horse of the Year.
She won the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic in 2008 and then the following year she became the first mare to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic. This also made her the first horse to win 2 different Breeders’ Cup races.
After her victory at the Lady’s Secret, it was renamed the Zenyatta Stakes in her honor in 2012.
Citation
Citation was born in 1945 and lived to 35 years old. In 1948 Citation won Horse of the Year and became the first horse to win $1 million total in winnings. That same year he also became the eighth winner of the Triple Crown.
He won an impressive 16 races in a row throughout his career. Around the time of Citation’s death, Cessna Aircraft Company named their latest jet after Citation in reference to his impressive speed.
His final race was in 1951 at the age of 6 in order to push him over the $1 million which he achieved after winning the Gold Cup.
Final Thoughts
While all of these horses are fast in their own right, it is hard to imagine who would win in a straight-out race. This is because every horse experienced different conditions when racing such as the tracks, racing surfaces, and rules. All of these can affect a horse’s overall speed and even its health.
Each of these horses moved with grace which made their fast times even more impressive as they made it look so effortless.
We are sure in the future more and more horses will be breaking all of the records set before them. Until then these horses will go down in history as some of the fastest in the world and will continue to live on as legends even after their records have been broken.