A Day At The Races

Description

A Day At The Races, 36 X 36 Oil on canvas. Painting number 25 in my robot series. This painting covers most obviously, horse racing. Specifically, the race in 1973 in which Secretariat won the Triple Crown. He was the first horse to accomplish this great feat since 1948, a span of 25 years. In two of the three Triple Crown Races, Secretariat started out dead last, but still won, once by 31 lengths. And, in each quarter mile of the race, he got faster by .25 seconds! The announcer calling the race stated at first that Secretariat had won by 25 lengths, this was later reviewed and determined to be 31 lengths.

On the horse’s bridle, you may notice the Kennedy fifty cent piece bearing the date 1973. Symbolic of the year of the win, as well as a mild reference to the infamous presidential term that ended in tragedy, and another that ended in impeachment, which I will get to in a minute. On the base of the ride you will notice the title of the ride is “Triple Crown”, but you might have missed that the “O” in Crown is a 1973 penny, this is symbolic of Penny Chenery the owner of Secretariat and a reference to President Lincoln, another tragic story. On the left side of the base are the names of the horses that lost to Secretariat in the three races of the Triple Crown; Warbucks, Sham, and Torsion. On the right side of the base are the Triple Crown winners since Secretariat; Seattle Slew 1977, Affirmed 1978, American Pharoah 2015. The Bible verse under the words Triple Crown is 1 Corinthians 9:24 which reads: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.”

In the reflections on the horse’s hoof, the rider’s head, and the coin machine, you will see the parents of the young rider standing and watching as he rides to victory. If you multiply 25 by the number of times the reflection of the parents appears (4) you get 100. This will play into the Lincoln/Kennedy presidential similarities later in this text.

But first, let’s get into that presidential race that ended in travesty and controversy in 1973. That is why there is a Nixon sticker and McGovern sticker on the coin machine. Richard Nixon was running against George McGovern in 1972 when his campaign decided to break into the Democratic National Committee Headquarters and do a little spying. Sound familiar? Fast forward to today’s DNC eMail hack? Anyway, the Watergate affair began with the arrest of five men for breaking and entering into the DNC headquarters at the Watergate complex on Saturday, June 17, 1972. The FBI investigated and discovered a connection between cash found on the burglars and a slush fund used by the Committee for the re-election of the President (CRP), the official organization of Nixon’s campaign.  In July 1973, evidence mounted against Nixon’s staff, including testimony provided by former staff members in an investigation conducted by the Senate Watergate Committee. The investigation eventually led to impeachment proceedings being brought against Richard Nixon. But… before he could be impeached, Nixon appointed, and congress approved, Gerald Ford, to replace Vice President Spiro Agnew who had resigned in disgust (not to mention the fact that he was under investigation for tax evasion). Thus the Ford Mustang logo on the coin machine. Anyway, after Gerald Ford had been safely in position for 9 months, Nixon resigned, which made it possible for Gerald Ford to become president. Gerald Ford then, as president, promptly pardoned Nixon of all charges against him. It took until 1974 for all the dust to clear, but 1973 was a very volatile year for politics in America. 24 months later, Ford lost his re-election bid to Jimmy Carter (thus the reference to 1st Corinthians 9:24).

So, to tie this all into today’s presidential run, notice that the rider of the horse is a TRiUMPh (Donald Trump), and the name of the horse is SECRETariat (referencing the Secret eMail scandal which has plagued Hillary Clinton’s campaign… the Russians again?).

P.S. So now let’s get back to the Lincoln Penny and the Kennedy Half Dollar. They are there as a reference to the sad endings of two other great presidential races. That of Abraham Lincoln, and John F Kennedy. Taking that math problem from earlier 4 (reflections) X 25 = 100.

Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.

John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946 (100 years later).

Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.

John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960 (100 years later)

Lincoln’s name has 7 letters

Kennedy’s name has 7 letters

In both Lincoln’s & Kennedy’s names the vowels & consonants fall in exactly the same place; in the order c, v, c, c, v, c, c

Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.

Both wives lost their Husbands while living in the White House.

Both Presidents were shot on a Friday.

Both Presidents were shot in the head.

Lincoln ‘s secretary was named Kennedy.

Kennedy’s Secretary was named Lincoln.

Kennedy’s father had been the Ambassador to England at the Court of St James.

Lincoln’s son became the Ambassador to England at the Court of St James.

Lincoln had 2 sons named Robert and Edward. Edward died young and Robert lived on.

Kennedy had 2 brothers named Robert and Edward. Robert died young and Edward lived on.

Both were assassinated by Southerners.

Both were succeeded by Southerners named Johnson.

Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808 (100 years later).

Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908 (100 years later).

John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, was born in 1839 (100 years later).

Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939 (100 years later).

Both assassins were known by their three names.

Both names are composed of fifteen letters.

Lincoln was shot at the theater named ‘Ford’.

Kennedy was shot in a car called ‘ Lincoln ‘ made by ‘Ford’

Lincoln was shot in the Ford’s Theater and his assassin ran and hid in a warehouse.

Kennedy was shot from a warehouse and his assassin ran and hid in a theater.

Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials (100 years apart).

In late 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Gerald Ford to the Warren Commission investigating John F. Kennedy’s assassination to determine if there was Russian or other involvement in the heinous crime.

On the campaign trail in 1975, Ford himself weathered two different assassination attempts on separate trips to California, both by women. Lynette Fromme (a former follower of Charles Manson) and barely two weeks later, radical activist Sara Jane Moore. To keep with the numbers, both women have 13 letters in their names… (and for that matter… so does Charles Manson).

And there you have it, a detailed explanation of “A Day at The Races” painting number 25 by Alann J.

The original Oil on Canvas artwork has been sold and is no longer available.