We are very proud to bring you an interview with Italian born trainer Marco Botti, we talk everything from Yearlings & Breeze up’s through Excelebration and one to keep an eye on….
Since you started training in 2006, how has racing as a whole changed?
There is definitely more racing nowadays than there was when I started out, even racing through the winter is more consistent now.
You come from a huge racing background, how did you handle the pressure and does it help to have good horses to train?
I never felt much pressure when starting up especially having started training in a different country. I always knew it would be more competitive than if I started training back in Italy.
As a trainer you always receive pressure from owners and you get used to handling their expectations. Training good horses is what it is all about in a way they make our life easier and they are the ones that get you noticed and put you on the map
What do you look for when purchasing a yearling or a 2YO at a breeze up?
Buying a yearling can be challenging and we are always looking for the yearling’s that look like athletes and depending on the budget we have, means that sometimes we have to compromise to forgive a few faults conformationally.
The breeze up horses are slightly different we tend to time the horses to give us an indication as to whether they have speed or not. How they move and their behaviour is also taken into account to help us to give a more informed approach into choosing the correct horse.
Of all your Group wins, which has given you the most satisfaction?
It would have to be Excelebration winning the Prix Du Moulin De Longchamp (Group 1) at Longchamp. He had recently been purchased by Coolmore and there was a little bit of pressure to do well for them.
With racing running all year round, especially now with All Weather racing does this allow you to take more horses or allow more time for horses to come to hand?
The all year racing definitely allows me to give more time to the more backward types and it also allows us the run horses through the winter in races at are supposed to be slightly easier. All weather racing also allows us to keep the stable busy for 12 months of the year.
How hard is it to find owners or are syndicates or racing clubs becoming the way forward?
The yards results help to attract new clients and your horses running well are probably the best advertisement you can get. Syndicate and Racing Clubs are definitely the way forward for the future giving people a more affordable way of owning racehorses. That being said it is still extremely competitive to get the syndicate and racing club owners in the yard with so many good trainers around.
What are your thoughts on the potential stable staff crisis?
All yards are unfortunately suffering due to a shortage of workers, the two major reasons for this clash – the first is the increase of horses in training and the second is the lack of young people wanting to get into the industry due to the long hours and weekends working rotas.
Can you give us a horse that you are excited about for the winter and one for next season on the turf please?
Wild Hacked missed the turf season due to an injury but is coming to hand nicely and should be a lot of fun over the all-weather season. For next season as we still have a lot of unexposed two year olds and it would be hard to judge them at this stage.
A big thank you to Marco for his time and we wish the Team all the best, through the winter and for the future ahead…
Interview by Rich Williams
Pictures…. The Internet
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