Because it was the horse that God loved?
I still have a magazine or program from that time and that phrase was the lead in to the article.
" The horse that God loved ".
One of these days I will dig thru my old junk and find it.
I still have a bunch of the giveaways from RR, orange baseball cap, orange seat cushion, and orange helmet all with the RR logo plus a bunch of other items from that track including a head number from a race.