Fred Basset (greyhound)
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Fred Basset is a greyhound purchased for approximately AU$9000 by Hamish and Andy in September of 2006. The name is based from a comic strip character called Fred Basset which is also a regular segment of the Hamish and Andy Show.
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[edit] History
[edit] "The Search for a Greyhound"
After Hamish won a considerable amount of money betting his holiday savings on Andy to win Cleo Bachelor of the Year (Glamour Quest Hamish calls it) (with the help of listeners' votes) they opened up the lines on their radio show for suggestions on what to do with the funds. Troy, a listener, suggested that they continue the gambling (and hopefully the good luck and ridiculously large winnings) and after a few weeks, the pair ended up with Ange the Dog Whisperer (Fred's trainer - chosen with the help of the listeners) who then did some digging to come up with three possible Fred Bassets.
The third candidate was the clear favourite: sired by Awesome Assassin, his parents had won AU$103,000 between them (beating Greyhound #1's parents and Greyhound #2's with $30,000 and $47,000 respectively) and on August 26, 2006, Greyhound #3 became Fred Basset, The People's Greyhound, with a 77% majority win.
[edit] The People's Greyhound
Fred's journey has been a regular feature on Hamish and Andy's Melbourne-based drivetime radio show since Andy won his "glamour quest" in September. Through every step of the journey the boys have been pushing the idea that Fred is truly "The People's Greyhound". Without the continued support of the listeners, Andy would never have won his "glamour quest" (a term coined by Hamish's grandmother on a hero message in support of Andy) and Hamish could not have won the money to buy and maintain Fred (after imprudently betting the money he was saving to take his girlfriend overseas). Andy was such a long shot that with just $860 bet on him the winnings exceeded AU$12,000.
Fred's career has long since overshadowed Andy's unexpected win, however, and fans flocked to his first ever race in Melbourne on October 12, 2006. Unfortunately Fred placed dead last in Race 4 at Sandown Raceway (his race being named The Hamish and Andy Stakes) but fans have remained supportive.
[edit] Fred the Psychic
Fred's famed love of chicken nuggets (McNuggets, of course) took a turn for the bizarre when Hamish and Andy decided to use his love of nuggets to predict the future. Before the two football grand finals of 2006 (National Rugby League and Australian Football League) were played, the boys did two experiments to see exactly how far they could take Fred's love for the nugget. On one paper plate they wrote "broncos" and on another they wrote "storm" (these being the two teams who played in the NRL grand final) and placed one nugget on each. Fred chose the "broncos" nugget, and after that the Broncos went on to win the match. The boys then did the same thing for the AFL, with Fred successfully choosing the winning team once more.
Since these two key predictions, Fred also has successfully forecast that Mutto would be voted off Australian Idol, a 1:9 chance, among other things.
Sadly, after Fred's disappointing performance in his first race, it has been decided (by Fred himself) in a spectacular final nugget choice that he would choose to race and give up the nuggets rather than continue on his pathway of "psychic lazy dog". Fred will not be allowed any more nuggets on a regular basis.
[edit] Track Record
After his first spectacular loss, Fred had an equally spectacular win at Albion Park in Brisbane on October 19.
Later on at Angle Park Raceway in Adelaide, Fred Basset backed up his first win with yet another victory, beating arch-nemesis Nitrix in a very close finish.
The 4th Race on November 11 at Cannington Raceway in Perth drew large crowds, however even with the support of Mike Whitney and hundreds of Fred Basset fanatics, he could not bring home a podium place and finished 4th.
On a special Good Friday Appeal race, Fred won against two other greyhounds and therefore donated all of his winnings ($7000) to the Good Friday Appeal (2007).
[edit] Fred's Future
[edit] Celebrity Endorsement
Hamish and Andy are were locked in a fierce competition to find a dog-related celebrity who would endorse Fred in his career as the "McNugget loving champion". Hamish chose to pursue Paris Hilton, While Andy chose John Travolta (although no one's really sure why he's considered a "dog-related" celebrity - at least Paris has a tea cup chihuahua). After some disappointing phone calls to seemingly random American Scientology churches, followed up with a call to Qantas, Andy pulled into the lead with a representative from Football Federation Australia promising to find Mr Travolta's details for him. After a few more days of dead ends, Hamish then received Kiefer Sutherland's mobile phone number. Failing to contact Kiefer the next day, Andy stated "...you can have Paris Hilton, you can have Kiefer Sutherland, you can have Mike Whitney. "Hamish then proceeded to obtain Mike Whitney's details and got him on the phone the next day. Currently Mike Whitney officially endorses Fred.
[edit] Australian Tour
Having started his racing career in Melbourne in the aforementioned race at Sandown Raceway, Fred will be touring most of the Australian capital cities continuing Thursday, October 19 when he races at the Albion Park Raceway in Brisbane. Tour dates can be found at his site (see below).His results were a disappointing last, a first, another first and a fourth. Since the show has finished he has run: first, third, third and third. Run Fred, Run!!
[edit] Post Australian Tour
It was said on The Hamish and Andy show that Fred had hurt his knee and would be out for 3 weeks. They also said that the Channel 9 show Talk to the Animals wants to do a segment on Fred Basset.
Fred Basset has 8 wins, 8 seconds and 10 thirds as of November 6.
