Anderton took a call from ex-South Island trainer Peter Williams shortly after the Hussonet gelding ran down the track at Ellerslie in mid-February.
''Peter thought that he'd probably reached his limit up there and he thought he'd probably go good enough down here to get to open company,'' Anderton.
There is nothing new about a North Island galloper coming south to rejuvenate its career, but for one problem: the Dargaville owner, Gus Gillespie, was not aware his horse had crossed Cook Strait.
Anderton only found out when he called Gillespie to arrange the signing of the lease papers, as he had two syndicates keen to race the then-winner of three races.
Some members of those syndicates were on course yesterday and gave Anderton a little light-hearted banter from the stands as Hexie Hao came back in first after the rating 85 1600m.
''Pete said freshen him and put him over a mile fresh and on a good track,'' Anderton said.
''I know he was running out of his grade but he was a three-win horse, so I thought he's got the ability.''
Gillespie will be glad he held on to the 4yr-old as jockey Shankar Muniandy steered him to the inside, using the space created by the cutaway rail in operation yesterday, winning by 1 lengths.
''He's got a few horses but it's just amazing how it works out,'' Anderton said of Gillespie.
