The striking Not A Single Doubt colt Anders has carried the hopes of his stable from the time he lined up for his first start back in October, but he has proved to be something of a frustrating character.
Though he rarely runs badly the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained colt took five starts to break his maiden, which he did emphatically with a six and three-quarter length romp at his most recent start at Wyong.
In retrospect Anders has run in to some pretty good ones on the way so it was no surprise when he backed up his triumph at Wyong with another thoroughly professional performance when carrying topweight over 1100 metres at Rosehill on Saturday.
Ridden by James McDonald, Anders defeated Godolphin’s royally-bred Snitzel colt Andermatt by three-quarters of a length with the Deep Field filly Sweet Reply a further three and a quarter lengths back in third.
"We have been very fortunate to have an exceptional crop of young horses," stable representative Annabel Neasham told AAP.
"It's swings and roundabouts in this game and next season it might be another stable's turn.
"We had a good two-year-old season last year but not a lot of them went on with it as three-year-olds.
"I think what makes this season's crop so exciting is that we feel they can continue to improve at three."
Anders is the fourth foal and third winner from as many to race out of the War Emblem mare Madame Andree who was imported in utero with her Japanese-bred mare Glamour Stock (Sunday Silence) who is a half-sister to three stakes-winners including the Champion 2YO Colt in Canada in 1999, Exciting Story (Diablo), whose seven wins included the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont.
Though she didn’t race, Madame Andree is proving a financial windfall for Arrowfield Stud.
Her first foal to sell, Battleground (Snitzel) made $900,000 to the bid of James Harron Bloodstock while Anders was sold to Aquis Farms Pty Ltd/Ciaron Maher Racing for $670,000.
For the third year in a row a son of Madame Andre made the trip to the Magic Millions at the Gold Coast in 2020 with George Moore Bloodstock/Gary Moore Racing making the final bid od $360,000 for her colt from the first crop of Shalaa (IRE).
Madame Andree has a weanling filly by Snitzel and was covered by Pariah last spring.
