Certified EDS Optimus Score™
The EDS Optimus Score™ was initially created in 2013 from a private academic research project looking into the use of bespoke neural networks in biological systems following on from the use of algorithmic or black box trading models that were being used successfully on the floors of top invesment banking establishments. Equine Decision Science™ has held a trademark since 2013. What started as a passion project, academically judged to be better than an human expert it is considered to be groundbreaking research. Since that time we have refined our approach and increased our accuracy, the world now understands AI to a degree so it is the right time to launch.
Our sport is under threat so we must do all we can to secure it for future generations.
Our Commercial Director will be delighted to respond to all genuine enquiries and virtual meet ups are encouraged - this solution will aid better breeding and racing decisions and we believe it is for the good of our sport that it is now released to the public.
“the pleasure is in the waiting’
EDS OPTIMUS™
Understanding Your Results
A guide to the EDS Optimus Score™, Star Ranking, certification, Sire Rankings and breeding reports.
EDS Optimus is a bespoke, academically tested AI rating system built on fifteen variables to assess a horse's true performance potential for flat racing, independent of pedigree fashion, sales-ring hype or past race form. It operates as a closed model, deliberately shut off from outside assumptions to protect its unbiased ability, distilling a horse's underlying potential into a single, clear Score that can inform decisions at every stage, from purchase and training through to breeding and beyond.
01 — The Score and Star Ranking
EDS Optimus produces a precise Score for each horse's individual performance potential for flat racing, calculated at birth: the Birth Score. The scale runs from 1 to 600,000, with horses ranked across a normal distribution curve.
You can purchase either a horse's individual Score or its Star Ranking. If you purchase the Score, you will also receive the horse's Star Ranking, from 1 to 6 stars: 1 star represents the lowest end of the scale and 6 stars the highest. Six-star horses are extremely rare, and within that band a "6+" designation is reserved for horses scoring above 350,000.
| Star Ranking | Score Range |
|---|---|
| ★ | 1 – 4,999 |
| ★★ | 5,000 – 9,999 |
| ★★★ | 10,000 – 14,999 |
| ★★★★ | 15,000 – 19,999 |
| ★★★★★ | 20,000 – 99,999 |
| ★★★★★★ | 100,000 – 349,999 |
| ★★★★★★ + | 350,000 – 600,000 |
Worked Example — Frankel
EDS Optimus Star Ranking: 5
Racing career: Unbeaten in all 14 starts, £2,998,302 in earnings. Wins included the 2000 Guineas, Sussex Stakes (twice), Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, Queen Anne Stakes (Timeform rated him 147, their highest ever) and the Champion Stakes. Eight consecutive European Group 1 wins.
Stallion career: Stud fee rose from £125,000 (2013) to £350,000 (2024). Leading Sire in GB & Ireland, 2021 (£5.2m+ progeny earnings that year). Notable offspring: Adayar, Hurricane Lane, Logician, Anapurna, Alpinista.
02 — Certification
If you are the owner of a specific horse and purchase its Score, this can be recorded in the horse's passport with a simple sticker containing a QR code. The QR code links to a secure digital certificate, authorised by Equine Decision Science™, held online.
03 — EDS Optimus Sire Rankings
EDS Optimus Sire Rankings are derived from a horse's individual Birth Score, with a variety of additional attributed variables added. This enables a fairer read for a first-season sire, and a clearer comparison at the point of a breeding decision.
04 — EDS Optimus at Breeding Decision
EDS Optimus was originally developed to enable the best possible breeding decisions for flat racing, a far more complex question than performance alone. On request, EDS Optimus produces a breeding report for your mare against all possible available stallions worldwide, giving you the potential performance of the resulting foal.
EDS Optimus is not meant to replace the expert human eye of the trainer, the breeder or the bloodstock agent, but to complement it, giving that judgement an objective, unbiased read on potential to weigh alongside everything experience already tells you.
A Note on Soundness and Training
The Score assumes the horse does not present with a physical issue that would materially affect its performance. EDS Optimus measures underlying potential, not physical condition at any given time.
Training and environment clearly have a real effect on ultimate performance. However, a twin study on elbow flexor training found that the response to training itself is significantly heritable, meaning how much an individual gains from an identical training regime is itself shaped by their genetics, not just the programme they follow.1 Genetics is only one of the fifteen variables EDS Optimus takes into account, but this study demonstrates its relevance as a variable in terms of training response between different individuals under the exact same regime. This reinforces both the relevance of the Score and the importance of choosing the right trainer for the horse in front of you.
1 Thomis, M.A., Beunen, G.P., Maes, H.H., Blimkie, C.J., Van Leemputte, M., Claessens, A.L., Marchal, G., Willems, E., Vlietinck, R.F. (1998). Strength training: Importance of genetic factors. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 30(5), 724–731.
Equine Decision Science™ — informed decisions, from the paddock to the parade ring.