Fastest Racehorse??

Question

I am doing a report on horse racing, and I need to know the fastest speed a horse has ever run, and who that was. Serious answers only, please.

Answer 1

I think Dr. Fager was the fastest horse ever.

He has the world record at a mile on dirt:

1:32-1/5 for a mile.  That's roughly 39 mph.

Your question has several answers, because

a lot of horses can run a lot faster for a furlong (a furlong is 1/8 of a mile).  Even horses that are not good at all when compared with great thoroughbreds.

A horse ran the 1st quarter mile (2 furlongs) of a sprint at Santa Anita in 20-4/5 seconds.  That's over 43 mph (approximation).

At the recent Barrets sale for 2 year olds, 3 of the horses for auction worked a furlong in 9-4/5 seconds.  That's around 45 miles per hour.  Of course the ultimate value of a thoroughbred is not how fast a horse can run a furlong.  And these are just potential racehorses, not star racehorses as yet.

The value of a horse is really not in it's highest speed reachable for a short distance, because a horse needs to sustain its speed over a long distance, and the longer the distance it can sustain its speed, the superior the horse (Ex: Secretariat 1-1/2 miles at Belmont).

Here's a list of North American and World records by surface (dirt/turf) and distance:

Answer 2

thats a tricky question because of the variables involved, distance of race, top speed, average speed for the whole race. not to mention other variables such as track conditions. two years ago I saw a horse named ameri brillance run a half mile in a world record time of 43 and 2/5 seconds.his speed in mphs varied between 41 and 44 mph. but I seen faster top speed and for my money it would be a toss up between secretariat and spectacular bid as to who was the fastest race horse of all time.

Answer 3

the fastest horse ever i think was man o' war, he could go 40 mph.

Answer 4

Secretariat would probably be the fastest horse because he ran the Kentucky Derby which is one and one quarter mile and ran it in 1min 59 sec and two fifths and that is the fastest time for that distance to date.

Answer 5

Sea Biscuit 43 mph