NYT 'First Person' -- Me, My Dad and American Pharoah

[bare it all]

Oh my gosh the feels.

[herkhorse]

Wow

[jnunan4759]

That story shook me up because when I was up at Belmont seeing something special, I wished my Dad was there with me. He would have loved it. He passed 3 yrs. ago at 90 and the last Belmont I took him to was 2004 with Smarty Jones. Horse racing was our bond and I'd call him during the week during the 70's, 80's, 90's and 2000's and say "You want to go to Belmont on Saturday ?". We saw all the best. We'd go anywhere within 3 hours of Philly. Pimlico, Delaware, AC, Meadowlands, Garden State, Laurel, Belmont, Aqueduct, Fair Hill, Parx.

He saw Seabiscuit race.

I took him up to see Slew win the Triple Crown.

That was always our bond. He was in WWII and went through horrible things. He never talked about it, but he'd call me twice a week and we'd talk horses. I owned and bred horses and he loved when I'd take him to the farm or to see them race.

A few days before he died he was in a funk and wasn't doing too well, but I went into his room and he pointed to the window and said "They have turf racing here". I looked out and it was just a green field and said "Excellent !!!". I asked him if he remembered Manila. He said "Oh yes, he ran this morning, he won". They can't take our memories away.

[ghartman02]

Same here. My Dad is a WWII vet. 2 years ago he fractured his vertebrae and is unable to drive anymore. Once a week, I take him to the track to bet, and make bets a few more times a week. It's our bond. He's a bettor, I like the stories and the horses. He wasn't doing great in 2013, so I got tickets for the Derby. He was like a new man that day! So I think many of us have the father-son racing bond. Thanks for your memories!

[jnunan4759]

Excellent ghartman02. I couldn't get my Dad to go anywhere beyond a day-trip. My grandfather lived to be 95 and never spent a night away from home (fell between WWI and WWII) and only had been in 5 states in his life. All travel for racetracks, NJ, DE, PA, NY and MD.

[ghartman02]

Well luckily we live in Cincy, so I grew up at River Downs, Latonia (now Turfway), Keeneland and Churchill. Had a trip planned to Saratoga, which he backed out of. I'm regretting not forcing that one!

[jnunan4759]

I used to go up to SAR for the entire 4 weeks and tried to get my Dad to go, but I don't think he wanted to leave home. He used to tell me in WWII he was away from home enough.

However, when I was up there we'd talk on the phone every night and discuss the races and the horses.

[ninetoone]

Great piece!