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

[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.