1. All racehorses celebrate their birthday on the same day. Regardless of what date they were born on, each Thoroughbred turns a year older on Jan. 1 in the Northern Hemisphere or Aug. 1 in the Southern Hemisphere, for ease of grouping them by age for racing and training.

2. An average racehorse weighs around a half-ton (1,000 pounds).

3. Thoroughbreds can trace their lineage to three “foundation” sires of the 17^th century: the Byerley Turk, the Darley Arabian, and the Godolphin Arabian. Each sire was brought to England from the Middle East, and their offspring ultimately resulted in the Thoroughbred we know today.

4. Racehorse names have to be approved by the breed registry. In the U.S. the Thoroughbred registry is The Jockey Club, and each name must follow certain rules, such as maximum number of characters.

5. The quickest that a 1 ¼ mile race, the “classic” distance of the Kentucky Derby and other marquee races in the U.S., has been completed in is 1:57.16. The record was set on the grass (rather than a dirt course) by a horse named Red Giant at Santa Anita Park in 2008.

6. Thoroughbred hooves, like those of all horse breeds, are made of the same protein as fingernails: keratin.

7. A racehorse is born after an 11 month gestation. Foals weigh around 100 pounds and stand to nurse within hours of being born.

8. A Thoroughbred can top out at more than 40 mph when racing, though they usually don’t sustain top speed for the entire race but try to reserve it for the stretch run before the finish.

9. The most expensive Thoroughbred ever sold at public auction was an unraced 2-year-old later named The Green Monkey, who brought $16 million but would never win a race.

10. A racehorse can consume 20 pounds of food or more, plus 13 gallons of water every day.