OZONE PARK, N.Y. – He wore his son’s helmet cover. He kissed his grandson leaving the Aqueduct jockey’s room. In the paddock, he took a photo with his mother, wife, and one of his daughters. Then Robbie Davis, 56 years old, did what he believes he was born to do: ride a Thoroughbred in a parimutuel race. “This is what we live for,” he said. While the result was disappointing – he finished last aboard Dublin Green in race 4 after losing his left iron leaving the starting gate – Davis was like an apprentice. “The emotions are high, adrenaline’s rolling, that’s what it’s all about,” said Davis, who is also the owner and trainer of Dublin Green. “We’re racers. It’s just so exciting, the excitement’s excellent.” The adrenaline was noticeable as Davis did some shadow boxing in the jockey’s room prior to the race. When it was pointed out to him that his horse was only 9-1 on the toteboard, Davis quipped, “has to be the jock.” On his way out of the jockey’s room to the paddock, Davis kissed his 8-month old grandson Michael Dylan. Michael is the son of Dylan Davis, who is a jockey on the NYRA circuit but who did not have a mount in this particular race. Robbie Davis was the first jockey in the paddock. He was greeted in the paddock by friends, fellow horsemen and family. He took a photo with his mother Jana; wife Marguerite; and daughter Katie, another rider, currently recovering from shoulder surgery. The price on Dublin Green floated up to his morning line odds of 30-1. The horse, a 4-year-old New York-bred son of Dublin, had not run since finishing last on the dirt here a year ago. Wednesday, Dublin Green was all but eliminated out of the gate when Rough Justice, to his outside came over on him prompting Dublin Green to veer sharply to the inside, and forcing Davis to lose his iron. “I came off to the side, I was like ‘hell no, I’m not falling off,’" Davis said. “I went to get it, I couldn’t get it, it took me about a sixteenth of a mile to grab it. I finally got it, I was ‘okay, I feel I’m safe, but I’m out of the race.’” Dublin Green made a little run to catch up to the pack around the far turn, but he couldn’t continue to keep up and finished 20 1/2 lengths behind the winner Forward Motion. “I know I’m going to need a couple and he’s probably going to need a couple, so it’s a good combination,” Davis said. It was Davis’s first ride since June 8, 2013 and, despite the result, he relished every second of it. “It was like déjà vu. I was like 'Yes!' I didn’t have one anxious moment at all,” said Davis, who trains five horses. “The turf smelled so good, all the silks, all the other horses and the jocks, just the competition. This is where I belong. I just felt so comfortable. Like putting on an old pair of shoes.” Davis has previously said he gets nervous when he watches his children Katie, Dylan, and Jackie, ride races. Dylan, watching the race on TV in the jockey’s room could finally relate. “The way he felt for me I just now felt for him,” Dylan Davis said. “When I saw him go to the inside I said ‘go around.’ I didn’t want him to run up on heels.” As unrealistic as it seems, Davis is trying to recapture the glory he used to enjoy riding mostly on this circuit for two decades. He won 3,382 races – 131 graded stakes – before chronic knee pain forced him to quit in 2002. Davis never officially announced his retirement. He attempted a comeback in 2011 and then rode one race in 2013. In 2010, he underwent knee-replacement surgery and he said physically he feels as good as he did when he was riding. Davis said he no longer abuses alcohol like he did during the last decade when he rode regularly. Davis, who gets on his own horses every morning, would have to give up his trainer’s license to ride for other horsemen. It seems unlikely he would get enough support from other trainers to make this a viable career. But that doesn’t mean he won’t try. “We’ll play that by ear, the competition’s real deep and strong,” Davis said. “We’ll see what happens. I would like to take that step. I always wanted to take that step.”