Turf writers loved to write about the great race gelding Exterminator, and after the Philadelphia Handicap on April 21, 1923, they could chronicle his winning more stakes races than any other horse: 34 in all.

Thirty-eight-year-old Merrick was more of a symbol of Thoroughbred greatness than an actual great Thoroughbred.

Conversation heart inspired horse names, grown men spiffying up for a horse and a gift more delightful than jewelry.

Corn bouquets, eight hundred pounds of lump sugar, and other thoroughbred birthday celebrations.

Dead hedgehogs, live hedgehogs and peanuts in the shell are just a few of the odd assortment of items that racetrackers have regarded to be good or bad luck over the years.

This week in 1948 the great Citation won the Pimlico Invitational Special Stakes in a walkover, something that hasn’t occurred in the U.S. since 1982.