Bassett steps up for J.J. mission

PETER Moody is the first to admit Bassett hasn’t had the ideal lead-up to the J.J. Atkins (1600m) next weekend but he left the races on Saturday far more confident his two-yearold could play a major part in the Group 1 feature at Doomben this weekend.

Bassett, a $7.50 chance this weekend, will bid to emulate the feats of last year’s J.J. Atkins winner in Almalad when he steps up from 1100m to 1600m in the two-year-old feature on Saturday,

Almalad was jumping up from 1200m when he won the race last year and it’s not the only reason Moody is confident Bassett can overcome the sharp distance and class rise this weekend.

“I suppose Almalad has shown it’s not impossible but I took more faith out of the fact the form held up out of his race on Saturday more than anything,” Moody said.

Bassett has only had one start and that resulted in a convincing 1¼-length win in a twoyear-old handicap (1100m) at Caulfield on May 16.

He beat home Kinglike on that occasion and that horse came out and won a two-yearold race at Moonee Valley on Saturday by 1½ lengths.

But the fact Bassett’s form has been franked is not the only reason Moody is smiling.

The gelding showed he could burn the candle at both ends after he set a lightning tempo on debut before holding his rivals at bay in the straight.

And he also has breeding on his side in the J.J. Atkins as well. “He is a nice horse and he is bred to get the trip,” Moody said.

“If he was by Exceed And Excel or I Am Invincible or one of those shorter, sharper stallions then you probably second-guess yourself but the fact he is by (2004 Cox Plate winner) Savabeel leads me to think it might give him a better chance of doing it.

Bassett’s main worry on Saturday might not be the extra distance but whether he will handle racing in the clockwise direction for the first time.

But Moody doesn’t think that will be an issue either.

“At Caulfield we have the option of working them the reverse way every second morning and he had a preparation in our Sydney stable as a young horse as well, so he had plenty of experience going that way,” he said.

Moody will also saddle up Grand Prix Stakes winner Upham and Inauguration in the Group 1 Queensland Derby on Saturday.

“The 2200m won’t worry either of them and Upham is probably the forgotten horse,” he said.

“He has had two seconds and a win up there and he couldn’t have done any more really. He is consistent and gets the job done and Inauguration has had no luck at all.”