The way he tells the story and how it was a different era. His language is kind of backwards let just say.
c) wins bets for smiley by appearing to be incapable
In the story the horse's nickname was called the "fifteen-minute nag" which made people underestimate her. She was actually very fast. The dog is described as "he wan's worth a cent, but to set around and look ornery, and lay for a chance to steal something." However, the dog would change as soon as he got in the ring. He'd use his opponents hind legs to get the better of him. Most of Smiley's animals were misleading in their appearances.
