A quick follow-up to the previous post: Here's that chart again of the graded stakes at a mile or more for 3-year-olds so far this year, adding the winning Beyer Speed Figures. The edition of each race that got the higher Beyer is highlighted in yellow:
A few observations:
--15 of the 22 races received higher BSF's in 2009 than in 2008;
--The average BSF was 4.3 points higher this year (98.7 vs. 94.4); the median showed a similar increase, from 93 to 97;
--There have been nine triple-digit winning BSF's this year as opposed to only three last year;
--The four Grade 1 preps (Florida Derby, Wood, Santa Anita Derby, Blue Grass) all received higher BSF's this year, by an average of 4.75 points.
The data source for these charts is the Preps Recap page here on drf.com, which I recommend bookmarking: It's a very useful resource with links to the pp's, charts, replays, news stories and post-race analysis of virtually every prep.
