What he describes is what they've been trying to market as racings appeal for the last several years.
In the glory years of the sport, it was said "there is little of the true spirit of sport and good feeling among people who attend the races. It is all envy, jealousy, cynicism, hatred, disrespect for authority --- even the humor is sardonic."
And in those same glory years...horse racing dominated pool halls in every city.
Pittsburgh Phil had amassed a fortune in his early 20's -- A.) without ever having watched a horse race before in his life and B.) by betting on horses through the bookies that operated in Pittsburgh's Pool halls.
He did it simply by keeping records of horses names, as well as the winners running time and their margin of victory, thus allowing him to create something resembling a homespun result chart.
If you look to the time period when horse racing was as big as any sport in the entire country (1880s through mid 1920s) -- it wasn't popular because it was some social event, held at beautiful venues. Not in the least.
If "getting" horse racing means accepting it as a social event, where people wear hats, sip on cocktails, watch celebrities athlete make bets, and chat with each other for 30 minutes in between races ... I sure as hell don't get it.
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