Marco Botti originally trained Renew, a son of the Champion Sire – Dansili, in Newmarket, UK. When the horse wasn’t performing on the softer surfaces in the UK, it was decided the best way forward was to bring him over to Australia and give the horse every chance to be competitive.
On arrival, he had a start for Marco out of the Werribee Quarantine centre before he was transferred to Archie Alexander’s Ballarat stable. Archie did a fantastic job with the horse. Listed as the 4th emergency for the 2014 Group 1 Caulfield Cup, Renew somewhat surprisingly gained a start. Outclassed, he ran quite well, beaten only 6.8l at odds of 200-1. The horse had improved immensely from his first Australian run and he continued to improve for Alexander – resulting in a good 2nd placing at Flemington on Cup Day before winning the 2014 Listed Sandown Cup over 2400m. The horse had finally started to show his true potential.
After then placing 3rd in the Group 2 Adelaide Cup over 3200m in the 2015 autumn, he then again lost his form. After a disappointing spring/summer preparation in the 2015/16, he was given a long spell to let him ‘think about things’ and he was given one last chance under Darren Weir’s care.
Whilst most horses thrive with routine, perhaps Renew thrives under new and different environments to spark his competiveness. This Saturday he heads to Flemington in a BM90 over 2500m (click here to view the field), which will be his 4th race start under Weir’s training. He has progressively improved off each run this preparation, his last start resulting in a 5th at Sandown over 2400m, where he made up good ground the last 200m to hit the line strongly, click here to watch a replay.
Being a large framed horse who carries good condition, he takes some time getting to full-race fitness. In his final piece of strong work on Tuesday, he pleased his rider and the stable, hitting the line strongly.
The Weir camp believe this boy is now reaching his optimal distance and should put in a good performance on Saturday.
