Racing Speed Characteristics of Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds

Randy Eastburg is a well established Texas businessman who guides a customer-driven roofing and construction firm in the greater Dallas area. Having raised and bred quarter horses, Randy Eastburg enjoys equestrian activities and attending live racing events in his free time.

Quarter horses and thoroughbreds are both built for speed, with the thoroughbreds typically having a taller stature that comes from their Arabian stallion stock and European breeding strategies over the centuries. 

With speeds topping out at 40 miles an hour, thoroughbreds are preferred on longer courses in the three-quarters of a mile to two-mile range. A Kentucky Derby speed record was set by Secretariat, who maintained a 38-mile-per-hour pace in 1973 over a one and a half mile course. 

By contrast, the quarter horse has its origins in Colonial America and has been bred to reach speeds as high as 55 miles per hour over a shorter course length. Known for providing short bursts of adrenaline pumping racing, the name of the breed originates from its early classification as a "quarter of a mile running horse.”