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| Staff Writer |
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Marco Botti understands the importance of bloodlines when it comes to commitment to the training of racehorses.
His father has been a champion trainer in Italy for more than three decades and his brother is also a leading trainer in his native Italy.
His cousin Alessandro trains in Chantilly and now looks after last year’s Saudi Cup winner Emblem Road.
Being born in Italy and raised in Milan he would venture to England for the next level of experience and knowledge that would set him up for future success as he said.
“My dad is a trainer in Milan and I left Italy when I was thirty to come to England for experience and started with Mr. Cumani (legendary Italian trainer Luca Cumani) as an assistant and I am still in England now.”
Horses are in Botti’s blood and his passion for the animal goes back through the generations. Now it has been handed down to him.
“We grew up with horses. It goes back a couple of generations.
“My grandfather was a trainer as well and of course, it's a big advantage to understand the industry and commitment needed.
“It's a tough job for sure but can be enjoyable at the same time. You have to be very dedicated. Being from a racing family and watching my dad work helped me to understand what was going to be needed from me in the future “
Botti reflects on where his individual passion for horses and want to work in the industry began.
“The passion started with being around ponies and when I was ten years old I always liked horses.
“Since the early days, I went to the yard with my dad to spend time with the horses.
“It is fascinating when you get the young horses in the yard and you get to see them and get to see how they develop as well as how they started their career.
“It's quite exciting when you get a good horse and see his progression from a 2YO to 3YO. Then you start looking for exciting races for him to compete in. Also, I think it's a job where you meet a lot of people and it gives an excellent opportunity to travel around the world.
World Traveller Botti
“I've been to Australia, America and obviously Dubai. It's quite a good job in those ways but it can be very stressful at the same time. But it's a very good job to be a racehorse trainer.”
Botti has gone on to train over 700 winners, amassed £17 million in prize money, and received awards and honours including champion all-weather trainer as well as international trainer of the year at the 2012 HWPA Derby Awards.
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Training With A Strategy Ahead
Botti said the achievements meant a lot but it was more than that in terms of the long term.
“We tend to target every year to get as many wins as we can. I think that it's very important because if you have plenty of winners it means you have happy owners and that's my main target every year.
“To have all sorts of Group races available makes it even more enjoyable and attractive.
“That’s where of course owners and everybody notices you especially when you win good races like that.
“Any group race is welcome for us and to get black-type horses every year for those races is our target for sure.”
His family has always seen horse training as tactical. In essence similar to the role of an athletic coach, a belief that is held by Marco also.
“At the end of the day with horses they are athletes.
“You have to try to treat them as an individual and every one of them has their own character and their own attitude with some requiring a little bit more attention to detail while others can be a lot easier to deal with.
“This is quite fascinating when we get yearlings because at that early stage when you start with them and they just have a different attitude in the way they want to be trained.
“As a trainer, you have to analyze them and make up your mind on how they each should be trained because some may have to be trained harder than others.
“It's like if you were training a football player. When they start at an early age you need to teach them and take care that they are treated as an individual.”
The Early Years
After working as an assistant to some of the top trainers of the English turf Botti took the step of opening the stables at Newmarket, a decision he said started as a way of gaining experience.
“I came to England in 2002 and initially it was just a foreign experience trying to gain more experience abroad with English trainers.
“I worked four years with three different trainers, Mr Cumani, Ed Dunlop, and then with Godolphin.
“After four years, I had a choice to either rejoin my parents in Italy, be an assistant trainer with them and eventually take over from my dad or venture out on my own.
“I had a long conversation with my parents. I explained to them that I actually liked the system in England and made the decision to just take my chance.
“It was tough in the beginning because obviously being an Italian. I had to find clients that would want to support me and give me horses to train.
“Luckily I had great support from different people from different parts of the world including from America and a lot of owners from Dubai as well.
“We've been able to build up a number of horses in those years and we have been able to have plenty of nice horses over that time.”
In that first season of training, Botti had six horses and has built to now train 85 in his stable which has included some great names such as Joshua Tree and Capla Temptress who was a Group One winner at Woodbine.
“Initially in that first season, we only started with six horses. Luckily, a friend and connection I had through my dad helped us get those to start.
“Our first season we had nine wins with only three of the six ending up running. The second year we had our first Group winner with a Group Three and that of course attracted more owners to us so we could increase numbers.
“I suppose with the good wins abroad in America France did help us as we built a reputation to travel overseas and take opportunities abroad as well. That’s what we have always done for the past ten years now.
“Horses like Excelebration, Euro Charline, Dandino and Gitano Hernando helped put us on the map and be able to build up the number of horses.
“I feel the number we have now in 85 is a good number to have in training and plenty more to look forward to from them also.”
Meydan On The Agenda
He now prepares a trio for the Dubai Carnival as he commented.
Ardakanis the 4YO colt by Reliable Man nominated for the Dubai Sheema Classic and Dubai Gold Cup also. He ran at the end of January on debut in the UAE in the Listed Al Khail Trophy and was far from disgraced finishing third only 1.5 lengths behind the winner Global Heat. He has a Group Two and a Group Three to his name in Capannelle, one of those victories in Group company being by six lengths.
“He was bought by Australian clients and he ran in America for the previous trainer before he joined us. After the race in America, the plan was to take him to Dubai for the carnival but his main target will be the Gold Cup.
“He was denied by a few fitter horses but the first run was very pleasing. We were delighted with the way he performed. We knew he will improve from that race – it was definitely quite an encouraging performance.
“He is entered to run the mile and six Group Three this week and if all goes to plan we will aim him for the Gold Cup.
“He has been training well and seems to be in good form so touch wood everything is going smoothly. We expect him to come on and he had a good blowout after the last race. So I expect him to be fitter this time.
“We have seen the entrants and there are about 14 of them but based on rating he is probably the second highest-rated horse in the race so that should give him a very good chance.”
Felix, the 7YO gelded son of Lope De Vega, is nominated for the Dubai Turf after campaigning in the UAE over previous seasons. With three career starts in Meydan, he has run a fifth place in the Group One Jebel Hatta and a third placing in the Dubai Turf in 2021. Botti said that the plan has changed with him more than likely have seen his campaign in Dubai come to an end.
“He ran twice in Dubai. Sadly, it had rained there for three days just before his first race. The ground was quite wet probably too soft for him. He really wants the top of the ground.
“He didn’t enjoy it but still ran a respectable race. In his next run, he was a bit slow jumping from the gate but he still stayed on track. However, he got into a little bit of trouble in the running.
“Unfortunately his rating this year is down to 98 and that means he will struggle to get into the two main meetings on Super Saturday and on Dubai World Cup night. So sadly, we will end his Dubai campaign with just the two runs. He will return to England and be ready to run in the spring.”
The last of the trio is the 4YO colt – Giavellotto, who is nominated for the Gold Cup and has yet to debut in the UAE. Botti was confident in his ability ahead of this first start in the region.
“We are pretty much on schedule with him. Of course, we are waiting for the Gold Cup invitation but this has been the plan for him for a very long time.
“We've taken a different approach with him and we have kept him in England. We wanted to just run in the Gold Cup but he started his season too early to run in the Carnival.
“So he had a nice break and has done very nicely from three to four. He is training really well and we are quite pleased with him.
“If we get an invitation for the Gold Cup then we hopefully are on schedule for that, that is the plan.”
For Giavellotto he is targeted for a warm-up before making the trip to Dubai.
“In England, we have a race in mind, a prep race on March 11. Again because the Dubai World Cup is on the last Saturday of March, we have been just trying to find a race which we could use as a prep race as it’s not always easy this time of the year.
“So we spoke to the owner and we came to a conclusion we would keep the option open for the prep race in England or perhaps just the racecourse gallop and then go straight for the Gold Cup.
“He is a horse who gets fit and quite active. Even if we ended up with just running and going straight to the Gold Cup in terms of fitness, it shouldn't be an issue.”
More In The Box
Botti has a few other classy types in his stable.
“We have a nice group of 3YOs.
“In particular one who won last year as a 2YO filly called Gold As Glass. She is from Australia and out of Crissoles. She only ran once in Newmarket and being by Australia she was always going to perform better as a 3YO.
“She's wintering fine and has done really well through the winter and potentially could be an exciting filly in the spring.
“Another horse Legend of Leros is a 3YO who ran twice last year and won nicely at Doncaster at the back end of the season.
“He is by Kuroshio and out of Elusive Legend and again we are hoping he will turn into a black type horse this year.
“Those are probably the best from the 3YOs. We don't have many old horses and of course, Giavellotto and Ardakan would be among the best of the rest that we have.”
Botti added that he does not like to go over the top with the younger members of his stable but also never underplays the importance of nurturing and developing them into a potentially black type or Group Class runner.
“Yes, I tend to not get carried away because obviously, they’ve just been cantering for probably two months.
“It still is very early days to say which ones could potentially be black type.
“We've got a mix of a pedigree. We have a nice Exceed and Excel colt and he's doing well we think he could be an early type.
“We also have a couple by first-season sires and we also have a nice filly by Aclaim.
“We also have a few others that look quite nice as 2YOs and we should have a good mix who will come on mid-summer onwards.
“It’s definitely great to have a mix like that to be excited about and see what we can find in them all.’
Dreams Of Winning Iconic Races
Having trained winners across the globe from the UK to Australia to Dubai he has races that he would love to target and take home the spoils.
“I would love to have a Group One winner in England.
“Sadly we have six Group Ones in France and America and we got very close in England.
“We have a lot of seconds in Group Ones in England but we would love to win any Group One there.
“In England of course the Derby is the race everyone wants to win.
“But if there is a race that I would love to win I would say the Arc in my mind it is a wonderful race and the race I would really like to win.”