Joseph Campbell, the noted mythologist, Sarah Lawrence professor and oracle to Hollywood directors, would instruct his students to “follow your bliss” when they asked him about career choices. If you want to know what “following your bliss” looks like, get a visitor’s pass to the backstretch of Belmont Park Racetrack and talk to the folks devoting their lives to caring for thoroughbred racehorses. Their affability and good spirits are palpable because they have followed their passion for thoroughbred horses and the exciting world of horse racing.

My father’s family grew up in Ozone Park, just a short walk from Aqueduct Racetrack, which meant most of my uncles “followed their bliss” and got involved in the racing game as blood stock agents, trainers, ticket window workers or owners. Geography is destiny. They were all so wild that Damon Runyan almost did a story about the family. Last Sunday I called my cousin, Jimmy Ferraro, who trains horses at Belmont, and told him I was going to come visit him in the barns.

One of the uniquely appealing aspects of thoroughbred racing is that it demands a partnership between horse and rider. In horse racing, the rider takes second fiddle and the horse is the one that gets all the fame or the blame.

When we pulled up to the backstretch barn used by my cousin, it was only about 7 a.m., but the place was all hustle and bustle with grooms, hot walkers and exercise riders doing their work. You get a glimpse of a farrier bent over shoeing a horse and a hot walker walking a stallion through the shed row. All around is the rich smell of horses, horse manure and hay.

When you get to watch these powerful beauties in training on the backstretch, you see why every backstretch worker falls in love with this sport. Watching them run by on the soft dirt track is a feast for all your senses. You hear the hooves hit the dirt as they approach and then you hear their loud snorting breath as they blast by you. On occasion you will hear the exercise riders urge them on with a little yelp or a smack of the whip.

My wife described thoroughbreds in the following manner. “When they walk about, they have the arrogant elegance of a pretty woman in high heels, but when you see them run on the track, they change into powerful masculine beauties.”

Thoroughbreds are born to run fast, having been bred from English mares and Arabian stallions back in the 12th century when knights needed speed to win battles. Since then they have been bred to be even faster and when you watch them race, you can see that they run for the joy of it.

Gambling is a part of racing and gambling revenue is about $115 billion annually. When we walked through Belmont grandstands later in the day, I saw that the crowds were not as they were when I was younger. It seems that off track betting keeps the crowds away, which is a shame because the bliss of this sport can only be felt up close and personal with the sounds of the horses’ heavy breathing, the pounding of hoof to dirt and the lash of the whip.

The racing game demonstrates the magic of human creativity. Thoroughbreds have taken 1,000 years to be bred like this and by now are the personification of the line in “Top Gun” when Maverick looks at Goose and says, “I feel the need…the need for speed!” All these animals have the need for speed.

Over the centuries the racing industry has gone beyond being the sport of kings. True there are kings and celebrities who partake in the action. Years ago, I sat next to rapper MC Hammer at the Belmont Stakes and will never forget the experience. He was attired in a white leather suit and gold chain, no shirt. That day he had a horse running and he bet the guy in the next box $1 million that he would win. MC lost that bet.

After he lost MC put his head on the table as if he was about to cry. I put my hand on his shoulder and said not to worry too much.  There will be more days and more races. Nowhere do you see such things except at the racetrack.

The human mind has created the best of things for us to see. Things like the Metropolitan Opera House, which allows us to see dancers in the American Ballet Theater perform Balanchine dances. Things like The Open Championship at The Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland. Things like Saratoga Racetrack and Belmont Park.

And that is why the workers in the backstretch who are underpaid and have dirt all over their clothing, all seem to have smiles on their faces. All those guys and gals have followed Joseph Campbell’s advice to follow their bliss. They all are getting up at 5 a.m. every day, seven days a week to go take care of all those beautiful thoroughbreds and then every afternoon go experience “the roar of the greasepaint, the smell of the crowds.”

Nothing but fun, fun, fun. Just don’t bet the favorites.