While bassets certainly move faster than you would think, that speed seems a stretch. Anyway, open-field running does not represent a basset's strength. Bassets thrive in the woods. Using their stout legs, powerful chest and shoulders, and long, low body, the hounds maneuver through brush and thickets like little tanks. The hounds must also be tough.
Briars rip at their ears and tails.
Not every basset has what it takes to hunt rabbits. They need the physical attributes, primarily a good sniffer and a good bark. Also, hunting bassets have lighter and more streamlined bodies than your garden-variety house hound. In pack hunting, a basset must get along with and trust the other hounds. And, perhaps first and foremost, the basset must have the heart for the hunt.