WE’VE watched races everywhere. From Saratoga to Stoneybrook, Ellerslie to Ellis, Cheltenham to Charles Town.

The first lesson I remember learning was at Delaware Park in the 70s, when Dad knelt down and looked me in the eye, “Now, son, if this horse loses, you just can’t cry about it.”

I stifled tears as he told me this and wiped tears from the corners of my eyes, hoping Dad didn’t see, as the horse inevitably got beat. I’ve been trying not to cry ever since.

People ask me why I rode races, why I like horse racing and, now, with years of perspective I realise how it started - it was simply to spend time with my dad. A lifelong horse trainer, he went to the barn early, I went with him. He went racing on the weekends, I went with him. He checked horses at night, I went with him.

Retired from training but still riding and managing a farm, my dad called me Wednesday like he does, low key, not much to say, we talked about a few horses, then as a throwaway line, he said, “Well, I’m in the hospital…” Yeah, that’s my dad, he turns 82 today, a Marine, a recovering alcoholic (he’s been sober since 1981), as tough as they get, he tells you he’s in the hospital like people tell you they went to the corner store.

An irregular heartbeat, a fainting spell or two, had convinced him to drive (himself) to the hospital. Diagnosed and settled, he was stuck in the hospital through the weekend. Three hours away, I went to see him Saturday, October 1st.

We do not struggle for conversation, we never have. With stakes races spread across the country from Belmont Park to Santa Anita, we have plenty to talk about, plenty to do.

“I think Flintshire will get beat,” Dad says, flipping pages of his Racing Form.

I flip my phone sideways as four horses congregate behind the gate for the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont Park.

Riding a three-race win streak, Flintshire is 1/5 in the $500,000 stakes. Dad settles on second-choice Money Multiplier, but ultimately is looking for an upset, any upset.

“He’s in trouble,” Dad says, as the field heads into the far turn and Flintshire lags in last.

Indeed, Flintshire is in trouble as Ectot doles out steady fractions over yielding turf. Turning for home, Jose Ortiz asks the British-bred five-year-old and he sets off, opening up on Flintshire who paddles when he usually pounces, falling by five lengths to Ectot. Trained by Todd Pletcher for Al Shaqab Racing, Ectot wins for the first time since taking the Qatar Prix Niel in 2014.

“Who was that?” Dad asks.

I explain that Ectot had decent form once, tailed off, got beaten in an allowance race at Saratoga and then read him some quotes from Pletcher.

“We thought the key was if we could get him to settle. We thought it would help when it rained,” Pletcher says. “We felt we had a lot going for us, but you still have to have tremendous respect for a horse like Flintshire, who is accomplished and for what he’s done in his career. We were optimistic that our horse would run well and we couldn’t be more pleased with the way he did it.”

And then Chad Brown, who knew he was taking a chance at running Flintshire over yielding turf.

“He didn’t handle the ground. We knew the risk going into the race running on soft ground. He has a poor record on it,” Brown says. “I didn’t see another option; I didn’t feel comfortable going into the Breeders’ Cup without a prep. So, we gave it a shot and it didn’t work out. Hopefully he’ll come out of the race sound and will get a chance to redeem himself in the Breeders’ Cup on firm ground.”

CHURCHILL DOWNS

“You can always train the other guy’s horse…” Dad says.

Knowing he’s about to rip Brown or someone, I flip the page and change the subject to the Gallant Bloom.

We watch favourite Paulassilverlining win the Grade 2 stakes for Vincent Scuderi, Michelle Nevin and John Velazquez. Dad and I watch the daughter of Ghostzapper hold off Quezon by three quarters of a length.

The races come fast and furious, as we switch to Churchill Downs, then Delaware Park, then back to Belmont Park.

“I like this horse of Brian Lynch’s in the Pilgrim,” I say. “I watched him breeze at Saratoga. He’s a runner.”

About an hour after Ectot, the Pilgrim comes on my phone, Dad and I lean over the phone, Dad’s wires stretching from his arm to a blinking machine that hovers like a ghost.

“How does this even work? I can’t believe you can watch a race on a phone,” Dad says. “Crazy, huh?”

Oscar Peformance strolls on the lead and dominates seven rivals in the Pilgrim, a Grade 3 turf stakes for two-year-olds. Owned and bred by Amerman Stable and trained by Brian Lynch, the son of Kitten’s Joy is the best juvenile turf horse in the country. Breeders’ Cup? The Europeans might have to be special to beat him.

Dad sees it. “Who the hell is that?” he asks.

I explain again, then let Lynch tell us.

“I think he’d run on broken glass, he’s a tough bugger. I didn’t think the cut in the ground would be a big deal. As long as it’s on turf, he could handle whatever you throw at him,” Lynch says. “I think it was a decent field behind him, so there’s plenty to look forward to. I’d certainly say he’s on the wagon headed that way to the Breeders’ Cup.”

Thirty minutes later, Joking wins the Vosburgh, a Grade 1 stakes, for Charlton Baker. Baker is the ultimate little guy, getting out of Jamaica and then getting out of Finger Lakes and now making it big on the big circuit of Belmont Park. He owns and trains Joking, a seven-year-old over-achieving gelding who he claimed for $20,000 back in 2014.

“Super! Super! That’s the word to describe it. We’re definitely going to go on the Breeders’ Cup from here. I felt great when they went 21 for the quarter. It’s been an unbelievable year,” Baker says. “Saratoga was huge and before that, Belmont was also huge. Winning a Grade 2 here and coming back to win a Grade 1 and having a chance to win one more has been good. It’s been great.”

Dad marvels at the win. “Where’d Charlton Baker come from?” he asks.

I laugh, “Finger Laker, Charlton Baker.” Dad laughs.

Belmont finishes with the Grade 1 Beldame. Dad and I threaten to have a bet, then sit back and watch Forever Unbridled do what she does best, closing to win easily for Charles Fipke, Dallas Stewart and Joel Rosario.

SANTA ANITA

A nurse comes in and checks on Dad, she shakes her head at two grown men watching a phone like it’s our last dice roll of the night.

I’ve been at the hospital for four hours, at least, and it’s far from over. Dad pulls out the Form and studies Santa Anita. There’s nothing like a three-hour time difference, it’s like another day as Santa Anita fires up six stakes.

“I kind of like this horse of John Shirreffs’ in the two-year-old stake,” I say, as Dad looks at the field for the Frontrunner. “He won first time out with Shirreffs and now’s in a stake, you know he’s good.”

They break for the Frontrunner and a loose horse comes out of the gate.

“What the hell happened to the jock?” Dad asks, as Secret House breaks without a jockey and Shirreffs’ Gormley strikes out on the lead.

Hailing from the man who had enough patience to wait until November of her three-year-old to unveil Zenyatta, Gormley handles Klimt, the favorite, to return $23.60. Dad and I hit the exacta and win/place money. We’re rolling now.

We watch the replay to see what happened to the jock and laugh when we see Santiago Gonzalez step off Secret House just as the gates open.

“There are a thousand ways to lose a race…” Dad says.

CALIFORNIA CHROME

It’s passing 6:30 and Dad finishes off what looks like a pork loin and some off-color vegetables. I’m not hungry.

“California Chrome runs today…?” Dad asks. Next.

“Oh, great,” Dad says, days in a hospital somehow drifting into nothing but a memory.

We watch the warm up of the Awesome Again Stakes, marvelling at California Chrome’s swagger in the post parade.

“He’s a racehorse,” Dad says.

The champ breaks sharply from the rail, Dortmund pounces on him like a dog after a bone.

“Oh, you’re going to be sorry,” Dad says, as California Chrome leads Dortmund by a head around the first turn.

Leaving the backside, California Chrome starts to lengthen stride as Dortmund starts to shorten stride.

“It’s over, Sean, it’s over,” Dad says, as California Chrome saunters away.

Dad cackles as Victor Espinoza gears him down like he’s stuffing cupcakes into a satchel. The winning distance is two and a quarter lengths, it could have been 24 and quarter. That’s win number 15, his sixth in a row.

“See that’s why these guys need to run these horses after their three-year-old year, just to see how good they are,” Dad says. “How good was Secretariat? He might not have been that good as a four-year-old or five-year-old. It’s so good they’ve run this horse as a five-year-old.”

I think of the trainer, Art Sherman, an old man with his best horse. I see a lot of Art Sherman in my dad and a lot of my dad in Art Sherman.

“It’s a dream come true. I never had the ability to buy the most expensive horses. This is just like a gift from . . . I don’t know where,” Sherman says. “Maybe it was just my time to shine. I’m enjoying it.”

So is Dad.

With a few more stakes races to go, I look at Dad and know that it’s not going to get any better than California Chrome. I stand up for the first time in hours and say good night. He hugs me. He feels thin, fragile.

“Thanks for coming to see me,” Dad says. I thank him for everything and make the long, lonely walk out of the hospital.

On the way home, I pull over to watch Avenge take the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive for Ramona Bass, Richard Mandella and Flavian Prat. The daughter of War Front goes wire to wire to put a mild upset on Zipessa.

Thirty minutes later, I watch Stellar Wind handle Beholder yet again, taking the Zenyatta Stakes and setting up a three-way rumble with Songbird in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.

Winning his third Grade 1 stakes race of the afternoon, Espinoza is wired.

“It’s why I’m here, to win. That’s why I worked so hard and dedicated myself to be successful in my career early on. Now, I have the chance and opportunity and I can’t waste it. I have to keep going until the day that I retire,” Espinoza says.

“It’s a great day. I worked harder in her last race, the Clement Hirsch, than I did today. It’s always good to be next to Beholder, next to the queen, it’s always a plus. To be able to pull away the last eighth, it’s not easy. It’s hard but Stellar Wind is an incredible mare.”

Noted And Quoted wins the final Grade 1 of the day, handling 10 foes in the Chandelier for two-year-old fillies. Speedway Stable’s daughter of The Factor erases a fourth-place finish in the Del Mar Debutante and secures a trip to the Breeders’ Cup, another runner for Bob Baffert.

Sunday, I drive back to the hospital. Dad’s heart has stayed steady, the medicine doing the trick, a routine procedure is scheduled, Dad is relaxed, glad for the diagnosis. We sit in the same two chairs, we watch a few races and talk horses - California Chrome, Flintshire, Ectot, Stellar Wind, Beholder, Oscar Performance…

“How about California Chrome…” Dad asks - says - and our conversation drifts back to yesterday.

It’s like we never left.