Gluyas praises
Bassett Babe blitz
Bassett Babe showed an impressive turn of foot down the straight to win the Sportsbet Race Previews Handicap (1000m) at Morphettville Parks on Saturday.
After jumping slowly and three-wide, Bassett Babe stormed home to defeat Deepfloat Diva and Babayka for just under one length.
Trainer Andrew Gluyas said he has pleased with the four-year-old mare, who battled back when challenged over the final 200m.
“It’s different racing for her now, she’s got to grow up, she comes into some good contests, she was outside and covered a bit of ground there,” Gluyas said.
“(I thought) perhaps she might have peaked on her run but then she showed a bit of pluck over the concluding stages – it was a good first-up hit out for her.
“I think it was convenient that she was outside horses and not stuck inside in a rut, she’s had a good experience today, hopefully she can build on that.”
Brooke King celebrates her 100th career win, aboard Nicish, at Morphettville on Saturday. Picture: Makoto Kaneko
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A large group of Bassett Babe owners were on course on Saturday to see the third win in the past five starts.
“That’s the excitement of having a horse that’s got some wins on the board, and the excitement of racing horses too,” Gluyas said.
“That pressure is what it’s all about. If you put in and you get lucky to have a nice horse, and you’ve had to weather a storm with missing some juvenile racing, the bubble hopefully purges as we get deeper into spring.”
A winning treble from training duo Richard and Chantelle Jolly was completed after the first four events on Saturday’s nine-race card.
Harsh took out the first, the Sportsbet Jockey Watch Handicap (2426m), then it was a race-to-race double when Super Wonder claimed triumph in the Sportsbet Blackbook Maiden Plate (1000m), both with jockey Harry Grace on board.
The third victory came in the fourth, when Intellectual won the Thomas Farms Handicap (1000m). The victory was a return to the winning scale for jockey Jake Toeroek, his first victory since a fractured leg in April.
It was a fourth win in the past five starts for The Cosmic One in the PFD Food Services Handicap (1250m), while Holder also claimed a double when Nostryia saluted in the Sportsbet Green Tick Handicap (1000m).
Apprentice jockey Brooke King also scored a winning double, claiming victory aboard Nicish in the Hahn Handicap (1569m), then saluting on Mansiere in the Festival Hire Handicap (1250m).
