MVC2 Client validation with Annotations in View with RenderAction

Question

I'm having problem with client side validation on a View that renders a dropdownlist with help of a Html.RenderAction.

I have two controllers. SpecieController and CatchController and I've created ViewModels for my views. I want to keep it as DRY as possible and I will most probably need a DropDownList for all Specie elsewhere in the near future.

When I create a Catch i need to set a relationship to one specie, I do this with an id that I get from the DropDownList of Species.

ViewModels.Catch.Create

[Required]
public int Length { get; set; }

[Required]
public int Weight { get; set; }

[Required]
[Range(1, int.MaxValue)]
public int SpecieId { get; set; }

ViewModels.Specie.DropDownList

public DropDownList(IEnumerable<SelectListItem> species) { this.Species = species; }
public IEnumerable<SelectListItem> Species { get; private set; }

My View for the Catch.Create action uses the ViewModels.Catch.Create as a model.

But it feels that I'm missing something in the implemetation. What I want in my head is to connect the selected value in the DropDownList that comes from the RenderAction to my SpecieId.

View.Catch.Create

<%@ Page Title="" Language="C#" MasterPageFile="~/Views/Shared/Site.Master" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewPage<BC.ProjectName.Web.ViewModels.CatchModels.Create>" %>

<asp:Content ID="Content2" ContentPlaceHolderID="MainContent" runat="server">

    <% Html.EnableClientValidation(); %>
    <% using (Html.BeginForm()) {%>
        <%: Html.ValidationSummary(true) %>

        <fieldset>
            <div class="row">
                <div class="editor-label">
                    <%: Html.LabelFor(model => model.Weight) %>
                </div>
                <div class="editor-field">
                    <%: Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.Weight) %>
                    <%: Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Weight) %>
                </div>
            </div>

            <div class="row">
                <div class="editor-label">
                    <%: Html.LabelFor(model => model.Length) %>
                </div>
                <div class="editor-field">
                    <%: Html.TextBoxFor(model => model.Length) %>
                    <%: Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Length) %>
                </div>
            </div>

            <div class="row">
                <div class="editor-label">
                    <%: Html.LabelFor(model => model.SpecieId) %>
                </div>
                <div class="editor-field">
                    <%-- Before DRY refactoring, works like I want but not DRY 
                      <%: Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.SpecieId, Model.Species) %>
                    --%>
                    <% Html.RenderAction("DropDownList", "Specie"); %>
                    <%: Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.SpecieId) %>
                </div>
            </div>

            <div class="clear"></div>

            <input type="submit" value="Save" />

        </fieldset>

    <% } %>

</asp:Content>

CatchController.Create

[HttpPost]
public ActionResult Create(ViewModels.CatchModels.Create myCatch)
{
    if (ModelState.IsValid)
    {
        // Can we make this StronglyTyped?
        int specieId = int.Parse(Request["Species"]);

        // Save to db
        Catch newCatch = new Catch();
        newCatch.Length = myCatch.Length;
        newCatch.Weight = myCatch.Weight;
        newCatch.Specie = SpecieService.GetById(specieId);
        newCatch.User = UserService.GetUserByUsername(User.Identity.Name);

        CatchService.Save(newCatch);

        // After save redirect
        return Redirect("/");
    }

    // Invalid
    return View();
}

This scenario works but not as smooth as i want.

1. ClientSide validation does not work for SpecieId (after i refactored), I see why but don't know how I can ix it.
2. Can I "glue" the DropDownList SelectedValue into myCatch so I don't need to get the value from Request["Species"]

Thanks in advance for taking your time on this.