Like all good detectives, Joyce Trammell worked the phones, wrote letters, traveled and ran across a little bit of luck.

Trammell, a researcher for the Kentucky Derby Museum in Louisville, Ky., was trying to find all of the missing Kentucky Derby trophies awarded since the prize was first given in 1922–and she found about 30 of them.

“It was almost like fitting a puzzle together,” Trammell said of the search.

Fourteen of the trophies are still missing. Now, the museum is hoping publicity will help Trammell find the rest of the monuments to the pinnacle of American horse racing in time for a planned exhibit to mark the museum’s 25th anniversary in 2010