The horses in the pre-WWII editions differ from all the later ones. They are three-dimentional, hollow cast lead, hand-painted, with the numbers applied by transfer. The legs are thin and easily damaged.

The earliest hard backed boards fold in a Z shape with a playing surface on either side. Alternatively the cover boards work like a book with thick paper pages in between which are turned over to reveal the two different playing surfaces for training and racing.

In the standard edition the playing pieces come in a small box (illustrated on the left) with the large board separate. Box and board are covered in green paper with a pasted on label.