Being a jockey is sport's most dangerous profession, as 50 kilogram humans pilot half a tonne of angry horse flesh at alarming pace. This week, in the space of three days, female riders Carly-Mae Pye and apprentice Caitlin Forrest have been killed in race accidents.

Although no less painful, it would've made more sense to Tommy Berry if his brother had gone this way.

"That's what makes it harder to cop – that Nathan didn't die from a race fall," Tommy says, emphatically. "It would've been easier to take. We put our bodies on the line every day because we love it. We don't worry about the consequences. We go out there expecting that. We don't think about it but we expect that it could happen one day. It's part of the job. But he [Nathan] didn't pass away from that, and that's what makes it hard to take."

It's just over six months since that sickening first week of April, when Nathan died aged 23.

Two weeks earlier he'd collapsed at trackwork in Singapore, was placed in an induced coma and diagnosed with Norse Syndrome, an acute form of epilepsy, after suffering severe seizures.

The whispers about how dire his condition was filtered around the track. The prognosis was dire but nobody would say it, let alone publish it. He was flown back to Sydney and passed away hours later.

It makes as much sense now as it did then.

The racing industry buckled under the weight of the emotion but got on with business, as it does.

Tommy broke down in the mounting yard at Rosehill during an emotional tribute to his brother two hours before the Golden Slipper, but then went on to establish himself as one of the best jockeys on the planet.

He won the Chairman's Handicap and Sydney Cup on The Offer for Gai Waterhouse. Then he went to Hong Kong and Singapore, where he won the Singapore Gold Cup.

The Melbourne Cup on Gai's horse is the end game, but late on Saturday there's a Caulfield Cup to potentially collect along the way, too.

There was much confusion on Friday morning about whether the horse would start because he was lame in the off foreleg. He wasn't cleared to take his place in the field until midday.

When the barriers crash back, Tommy will ensure The Offer bursts out of his wide alley, frantically moving forward and trying to find a position with cover.

Many Caulfield Cups have been won and lost at the first turn. There's pressure everywhere. But these are the times when Tommy is happiest, because it brings him closer to Nathan.

"The only time I feel great and happy is when I'm riding, because we're together again," he says. "I forget about everything else, all the other problems I've got, I just concentrate on what I'm doing.

"I feel good when I'm riding. It always feels like he's with me. I thank him for all the success I get. Because I feel like he's with me all the time.

"My mind's in the right place. Look, I think about him all the time. I have my good and bad days. The whole reason why I kept riding was that I knew that's what he wants me to do."

The Berry boys were inseparable, much like their looks. Nathan had a drier sense of humour than his other half. He was also a Parramatta rugby league fan.

"He wouldn't have been impressed about Jarryd Hayne," Tommy laughs. "He always said Hayne held up the team. It might be a good thing, because they will stop relying on him."

How do you feel about it?

"I'm a Bulldogs fan," Tommy says. "I'm just speaking for Nathan."

And this is what strikes you most about Tommy, as he continues to ride in his brother's honour: his willingness to talk about Nathan.

For the past five weeks, a legion of 60 Minutes cameras and producers have shadowed him almost everywhere he goes for a story to run days before the Melbourne Cup.

In grief, Tommy's been an open book. He speaks almost robotically about the issue, such is his candidness with almost anyone who asks about his loss.

"I enjoy talking about Nathan," he says. "Why wouldn't I? He is such an important part of my life. I love talking about the good times. Talking about his sickness, and how he passed, is just something I'm not comfortable about. It's not the way I want to remember him."

To understand how far Tommy's come you need to cast your mind back two years ago on this day.

Waterhouse's Glencadam Gold started favourite, but Tommy lost the ride to Jim Cassidy. Waterhouse and the owners wanted a more experienced hoop heading into one of Australia's greatest staying races.

Nathan always told his brother to back himself. That he was as good as everyone else. That he'd be right here, at the top of the pile.

"He was a very confident person," Tommy says. "Always has been. We're two kids from Warwick Farm, brought up in a racing family but not a big one. You always doubted your ability and wondered if you were good enough. He used to keep me confident and tell me I was the best out there. We always worked hard, but more so since he passed.

"The hardest thing, still, is going into the jockeys' room and not see him sitting beside me. It just kills me every time. I feel more confident riding now, I feel more relaxed. Nathan was a lot more patient rider than me. I always had horses up on the pace and very aggressive. Since his passing, I feel it's rubbed off on me. I take my time more in big races."

The biggest race is the Cup. Tommy has ridden in the race twice. He finished fifth on Glencadam Gold in 2012 and second last on Tres Blue last year.

A one-time favourite for this year's race, The Offer has eased in betting but Tommy knows the two miles will suit him perfectly.

His faith wasn't always so strong.

"The first time I got on him, I got to the 600 metres on him and he dropped the bit and I thought he would run last, but then he kicked on to win," he says.

That was in March in the Manion Cup over 2400 metres. At the same time, Nathan was lying in a hospital bed in Singapore fighting for his life. Tommy had left his bedside to race, because that's what Nathan would've told him to do.

"He's the strongest person I've ever met and he'd want me to come back today and be just as strong for him," Tommy said after the race, his voice wavering. "Love you, Nath."

In terms of the Cup, Tommy is resolute about the result. "With Nathan with me now, I'm sure I can get the job done," he says.

Beyond that, he doesn't know. He fled to Hong Kong for three months earlier this year, but returned because his parents were struggling following Nathan's death.

"I want to see how my family go through the next 12 months," Tommy says. "I'll see whether I go back to Hong Kong. I was trying to run away from what happened. I took a step back after three months and decided to come back."

Then there's the son that's not far away after he and his fiancee, Sharnee Nisbet, announced earlier this year they were expecting their first child.

"God took a man from us and he's giving us a little boy," Tommy says. "We weren't expecting children right now, but it came at the right time."