Lloyd Williams in attack mode as he rolls out his minor players in another cups quest Lloyd Williams has never been more heavily armed for his annual Melbourne Cup assault, including reigning champ Green Moon. Picture: Aaron Francis Source: The Australian OWNER Lloyd Williams launches his first major spring salvo at Moonee Valley today but the big guns remain under wraps. Williams, who has spent more than $30 million on imports in the past five years, has never been more heavily armed for his annual Melbourne Cup assault. Thought Worthy and Massiyn, fringe dwellers in markets for the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups, will today launch their campaigns over 1500m at the Valley. Both have strong form in Listed class in Europe in the 2400m-plus range but are regarded as bit players for Williams behind horses such as Sea Moon and Green Moon. Thought Worthy is a Group 2 winner and ran fourth in last year's Epsom Derby. Massiyn has also not raced since September last year, when second in the Irish St Leger. The $80,000 SAJ Catecars Group Handicap has become a traditional launching pad for Williams horses. Last year Excluded and Tanby finished first and third in the race. Tanby went on to win the Zipping Classic, named in honour of a Williams' champion, at the end of the spring carnival. A year earlier, Green Moon finished ninth in the Valley race. A few weeks later he ran second to Southern Speed in the Caulfield Cup. A year later, Green Moon won the Melbourne Cup. We like this race. It's a good kick-off for some of the horses that are still in handicap mode," Nick Williams told Racing Victoria. Both Thought Worthy and Massiyn have drawn wide and were not expected to be overly competitive, he said. "The computer that pulls out the barriers mustn't know they're locals now because it's given us the visitors' draws," he quipped. This race will be too short for them. We're just happy to get to the races and have a look at them under race conditions. They've both shown good ability and we expect them to go well (this spring), but how far they get is up to their constitution. The Williams team continues its race-day cameos at the Valley. Highly rated Masked Marvel, Seville and the promising Hurricane Run will work with Tanby at 11.15am. The big guns, Sea Moon and Green Moon, are expected to launch their Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup campaigns in next Saturday's Memsie Stakes at Caulfield, which will also feature Atlantic Jewel and It's A Dundeel.