In the modern world of speed figures, tracking devices, and sheets handicapping, just about any racetracker will tell you making it into the hallowed ground of the winner’s circle might depend more on cats, birds, bugs, peanuts, popcorn, and pennies.

And those are just a few icons of a virtual pantheon of superstitions that many owners, trainers, jockeys, and fans either rely on with something akin to religious zeal in seeking good luck or methodically avoid in hopes of dodging misfortune.

These folkloric notions, which pass from generation to generation and often touch some of racing’s greatest competitors, both human and equine, have a rich history dating back centuries. The Encyclopedia of Superstitions, published in 2008, states that brass ornaments made 5,000 years ago were designed to ward off evil spirits from horses. Other beliefs gradually arose and spread, such as the idea that a person would gain good fortune if he spit on his little finger and rubbed it on a horse.

Although many racing luminaries might profess they do not believe in superstitions–defined in the Microsoft Encarta Dictionary as “irrational but usually deep-seated beliefs in the magical effects of a specific action or ritual”–nearly everyone has a story to tell regarding fortune or adversity