Why did Sam Riddle race Man O'War so conservatively?
1) Refused to race him as a 4-yr-old.
There are two stories here. One is that MOW had strained or bowed a tendon before his match with Sir Barton. Although he was still considered fit enough to run (and win) against Sir B., Riddle and trainer Louis Feustel didn't want to take a chance of further injury. If this is true, fair enough, they probably made the right decision. The other story is that Riddle claims he was told by the NY racing secretary that he would give MOW the highest weights ever assigned to a horse. Really? More weight than, say, Roseben, who won 3 times while carrying 147lbs, and once finished second under 150lbs? I sense something smelly about that....
2) Refused to let him face older horses as a 3-yr-old, except for Sir Barton.
In my opinion, facing older horses is the ultimate challenge for a 3-yr-old. The average 4-yr-old is bigger, stronger, and faster than the average 3-yr-old. It is more experienced, and so can react better to the jockey's commands and/or changing race conditions. It may even try to dominate or intimidate the younger horse.
After the Dwyer it should have been obvious that MOW was by far the best of his generation. Having nothing more to prove, Riddle should have been willing to move MOW up in class to the handicap division. Instead, MOW continued to beat up on horses that he had already outclassed. Only at the end of the season did Riddle agree to the match race. True, Sir B. was the previous year's champion and had run well as a 4-yr-old. But by the time of the match race he was no longer at his peak due to sore hooves, and MOW could beat him easily. But MOW never faced a *fit* Sir Barton, or the other great handicap champion, Exterminator, or any other good older horses like Billy Kelly, Mad Hatter, or The Porter. In fact, Riddle actively avoided letting MOW face Exterminator - he scratched him from the Saratoga Cup when "Old Bones" was entered at the last minute, and refused to consider a match race later in the year.
In my opinion, Sam Riddle approached racing not like a sportsman, but as a businessman. He had one big asset: a seemingly invincible Man O'War. He wasn't going to risk that asset. Owning MOW gained Riddle respect and prestige within the racing community in which he was a relative newcomer. MOW would command high stud fees after his retirement, and his foals bred by Riddle himself would command high prices at auction.
So that asset had to be protected at all costs. Anything that put MOW's invincible aura at risk - facing mature horses, racing at 4yrs - was to be avoided. A loss - a failure - would diminish that aura, and put those future high stud fees and auction prices, and Riddle's new-found status, at risk.
A sportsman would have said "Let's see what Big Red can really do". As a businessmen, I believe Riddle said "Let's protect the value of this asset".
Please note that *none* of the above is intended as a criticism of Man O'War. I believe that, if given the chance, he would have succeeded against mature competiton (as did, say, Secretariat) and/or excelled as a 4-yr-old (like Seattle Slew or Dr. Fager). But he never got the chance - and we can thank Sam Riddle for that.
