Azamour Lands Plum Draw An ideal-looking draw in stall five failed to placate John Oxx after an inspection of the turf track at Belmont Park left the trainer of Azamour feeling pessimistic ahead of Saturday´s Breeders´ Cup Turf. Bookmakers Coral and Totesport both pushed Azamour out to 7-2 in the betting for the 2million affair despite the colt´s luck with post position. Oxx reported his charge had travelled well from Ireland, but was unable to hide his disappointment over the recent wet spell that saw the track soaked with rain earlier this week. 'He had a good trip but the weather is the worry,' said Oxx. 'The ground is very soft at the moment. They say it´ll dry out but I can´t see it myself. 'We will have to see how much it has improved by Saturday but it is hard to see it being anything other than soft. 'He is such a brave and tough horse that we are just hoping he can deal with it better now than he did when he was younger.' CUMANI TURF HOPES DASHED Leading British hope Alkaased has been ruled out the Breeders´ Cup Turf at Belmont Park on Saturday. Luca Cumani´s five-year-old entire will play no part in the 12-furlong contest after he was discovered to have a bad blood count. 'Alkaased will not be running,' said Cumani. 'His next race will be in Japan and there is a possibility of Hong Kong as well. 'It is a shame, but he probably would not have appreciated the ground anyway.' (C) PA Sport
