Best of the Best

ANACHEEVA - (Anabaa ex Monroe Magic) -  He's the best son of a widely admired shuttle sire that has left a lasting legacy worldwide.

Exactly three years ago Peter Moody produced a promising Anabaa (USA) colt to win the Listed MVRC Mitchell McKenzie Stakes at Moonee Valley and by the end of spring, Anacheeva was being hailed as the best three year-old colt in the country.

Given a light preparation of just three starts as a two year-old, Anacheeva won on debut at Sale and finished a close and unlucky fourth to Skilled in the Group I ATC Champagne Stakes in Sydney stamping himself as a colt of some potential.

That potential was quick to blossom at three as Anacheeva reeled off three sensational victories to end the spring carnival undefeated.

He took the McKenzie Stakes over 1200 metres by a head and then backed up to win the Group III MRC Guineas Prelude over 1400 metres by a long neck over Group I winner Toorak Toff, who had won the Group I ATC Golden Rose at his previous start.

Anacheeva maintained his momentum to come out and win the sire making Group I MRC Caulfield Guineas at a mile, scoring by a long neck and adding his name to a stellar list of past winners that includes leading sires Redoute's Choice, Lonhro and Show a Heart.

"He's now put together three from three this campaign and he's beaten all comers, so he's proven himself the best three-year-old colt in the land,'' Peter Moody said of the star colt.

His success on the track should come as no surprise as Anacheeva was always bred to excel.

He is a full brother to Group I AJC Australian Derby winner Headturner and half-brother to Group II winning sprinter Kroner being one of three stakes-winners from the good producing Zabeel mare Monroe Magic.

Anabaa

A speedier daughter of champion staying sire Zabeel, who won over 1150 metres at two, Monroe Magic comes from a Kiwi family steeped in sprinting stakes-winners that include Group II winner Viennetta, the dam of brilliant Melbourne sprinter Golden Archer, who won eight races, five of them at two.

It's a pedigree with a unique mix of speed and stamina which exploded with the addition of world renowned shuttle sire Anabaa to produce not one, but two Group I winners in Anacheeva and Headturner.

The legacy of Anabaa is not something to be underestimated as he is one of the very few shuttle sires to achieve success at the elite level in both hemispheres and with progeny that excelled over all distances.

The Group I winning son of Danzig died in 2009 and is the sire of 87 stakes-winners worldwide including Style Vendome, a colt from his final crop of foals that won this year's Group I Longchamp Poule d'Essai des Poulains.

Anabaa has 15 Group I winners on the honour roll led by champion miler Goldikova, his superstars split evenly between both hemispheres, eight of those elite winners conceived in Australia.

Among his Northern Hemisphere flagbearers is French Derby hero Anabaa Blue, who has carved out a successful career at stud and featured earlier this week as the sire of talented three year-old Tres Blue, who captured the Group II Grand Prix de Deauville. Anabaa Blue is the sire of a dozen stakes performers led by Group I winner Spirit One.

Anacheeva is the best performed son of Anabaa to go to stud in this part of the world and as such commands great interest with his first foals arriving this spring including this filly from Princess of Oz .

Anacheeva covered some 70 mares in his first season at Chatswood Stud and stands at a fee of $6,600.

For more information contact Greg Willis on 0419 990 560 or03 5799 0560 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

By Tara Madgwick