Bassett loaded for bear in Golden State

Trainers named Bassett seem to have an edge in lucrative autumn futurities at Los Alamitos.

John Bassett has won three runnings of the Los Alamitos Two Million, most recently in 2005 with Value the Man. His 25-year-old son, Joe, won the 2006 running with Blues Girl Too.

On Oct. 30, Joe Bassett will be after his first Golden State Million Futurity win with three starters in the field of 10: fastest qualifier Cash for Cottontail, Dash Back Perry, and Nighttime Lines.

All three have been campaigned this year with the Golden State Million and Los Alamitos Two Million futurities as goals. The Los Alamitos Two Million is run Dec. 11.

"We've been really fortunate to have some fresh horses," Bassett said. "This is a tough stretch of racing, a lot of hard races. There is not a lot of time in between."

Bassett, commonly known by his nickname, Bear, said his trio pulled up well from time trials last Saturday. Cash for Cottontail won the first division of 10 400-yard time trials in 19.565 seconds. The trial was the fifth start of her career, which includes a fourth in the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association Futurity at Los Alamitos on Oct. 3.

"The final is coming back pretty quick," Bassett said of the Oct. 30 Golden State Million. "I'm really impressed with the way that Cash for Cottontail pulled up. The other two are fresh horses, and they're doing great."

Nighttime Lines, the winner of a division of the All American Futurity trials on Aug. 20 but not a qualifier to that lucrative final, will make his stakes debut in the Golden State Million.

Dash Back Perry, second in the eighth division of the trials, was sixth in the minor Rainbow Juvenile Stakes at Ruidoso Downs in July, a consolation to the Rainbow Futurity. The Golden State Million is her first major futurity final.

In Saturday's trials, Dash Back Perry was beaten by LD Fire, the winner of the Ed Burke Million Futurity in June. LD Fire is eligible for a $1 million bonus if she wins the Golden State and Los Alamitos Million futurities, which has never been accomplished.

Bassett thinks Dash Back Perry can improve in the Oct. 30 final.

"I was impressed with Dash Back Perry," he said. "She got beat a half by LD Fire, and I think she can improve off that."

Dash Back Perry will need to improve, not only to beat LD Fire, but also stablemate Cash for Cottontail.