THE SECOND RACE
Davis W. Morton / 1997 / oil on canvas / 24 X 32 inches

     If someone in Baltimore or Washington, DC wanted to go to the race track, Pimlico or Laurel is normally where they would go. This painting combines images from the two.
     When fate presents us with an excellent opportunity, some people are too timid to take a chance that should be taken. At the other end of the gambling spectrum, other people completely waste their talents and their energy trying to control the uncontrollable. Then they blame their mistakes on fate. Gambling, good and bad, runs the course between these two extremes. Any painting I do that deals with gambling actually deals with our bizarre relationship with providence or chance.
     Serious gamblers approach a day at the track as if it were their job. Using their own unique systems to beat the odds, they bet on every race. Only by the end of the day do they know if they have had a “good day at the track” or not. The people in this painting have already won or lost the first race but it is not time yet to be concerned. To keep the odds from going up, it is time to protect their strategies from prying eyes and fine-tune them before “The Second Race.” After that, their systems will have five more chances to prove their worth.

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©2002
Comments and Original Art by Davis W. Morton (11-159)