Only six days after becoming the first premiership-winning coach for the North Queensland Cowboys, Paul Green will look to lift one of the greatest prizes on the Australian turf calendar as a part-owner of Bassett in Saturday's Caulfield Guineas.
Green has a share in the promising three-year-old prepared by Peter Moody, and had the trainer in his coaching box when North Queensland played Melbourne at AAMI Park late in the season.
Moody, a Broncos fan, enjoyed his night with the Cowboys coaching staff and admitted he had to smile after last-minute heroics that delivered Green's men a 17-16 win in the grand final.
"I have always been a Bronco but couldn't help but be happy for him and the Cowboys the other night," Moody said. "Hopefully we can get another result on Saturday."
Bassett will be having only his fourth start and he has won twice at Caulfield. His only defeat came in the JJ Atkins at group 1 level in Brisbane, where he started favourite. He is rated a $13 chance in the Guineas by Ladbrokes, which has Press Statement a $2.60 favourite,
It has been one of the more unusual preparations to get to the 1600 metres of the Guineas and Moody is the first to admit it.
"We always had this race in mind but it was going to be hard to get the program right. He is talented and in the winter we had that one win at 1100m and then travelled to Brisbane and he had no luck but ran a good race at the mile," Moody said.
Bassett was heavily supported in the JJ Atkins after his win in May but never really got a clear crack at them in the two-year-old group 1. He was once again impressive when he won over the Caulfield 1100m on September 19 prompting Moody to head straight to the Guineas.
"He had the fitness from that and I decided to go for the softer option of going to 1100m first-up again and seeing how he came through," Moody said. "I toyed with the idea of going to the Guineas Prelude at 1400m but he has had plenty of work and it has worked out best for him.
"He has done well since that win and he has shown he can run the mile on that sort of preparation. This time he only has to walk to the track rather than have the trip up north.
"One of these days we will be able to get him to 1200m or 1400m and give him a normal preparation for the mile."
