Here\'s another pretty good article -- from sportinglife.com
There are some posters who should take note of these trainers\' comments -- that\'s all I can say without antogonizing anyone!
My comments -- if the turf is \"good\", which seems likely, it might not matter as much, but my understanding is you may not want to be inside on a giving turf course (I\'m sure someone will come back with a different opinion on this).
With all the attention on the turf conditions, what about a tiring, drying out-type dirt strip? Dead rail possibilities? Anybody have any strong opinions on a dirt runner who will benefit from a \"good\" type strip that NYRA will doubtless label \"fast\" ASAP?
HP
\"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 two-million dollar 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 walked the course this morning and it is very deep.
\"My stick was going right in without having to apply much pressure to it at all.
\"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.\"
Casting his eye over Azamour\'s rivals, Oxx suggested Bago - drawn three and Coral\'s new 3-1 favourite - would prove the biggest threat.
\"I am not sure what ground the American horses will like but I do know Bago handles these sort of conditions,\" he said.
\"Bago ran well in the Arc and looks a lot better now than he did earlier in the season.
\"The other horse who definitely handles soft ground is Shirocco.
\"I am not sure if the balance of his form is quite good enough to win a Breeders\' Cup but he is a fresh horse and he also ran very well in the Arc.\"
Alan Cooper, racing manager to Bago\'s owners the Niarchos family, confirmed the well-being of the Jonathan Pease-trained colt.
\"It is difficult to know what the ground is going to be like,\" he said. \"In America the definitions of fast and soft ground are very different to those we would use in Europe.
\"But the horse has travelled well, he is in good form and he should handle the ground better than others if it does ride soft on the day.\"
Treated less well in the draw was Ouija Board, drawn 13 of 14 for her bid at a repeat victory in the Filly & Mare Turf.
But likely to be dropped out behind the early pace in the early stages, Jerry Bailey\'s mount should not be at a great disadvantage.
The same could not necessarily be said of Starcraft, the Luca Cumani-trained contender for the Classic.
Having already wowed the American media with his quotability, owner Paul Makin was swamped again after seeing the Australian horse - who has never run on dirt before - drawn last of all, widest of all, and worst of all in stall 14 of 14.
\"I guess we got the visitors\' draw,\" shrugged Makin.
\"It\'s not the end of the world.
\"We wanted to follow Saint Liam and he is on our inside in 13 so I guess we ought to be able to do that still.\"
But Cumani was not able to hide his disappointment so easily.
\"I realised there were only stalls eight and 14 left and eight would have been perfect,\" he said.
\"But I already had a sinking feeling in my stomach and I guessed it might happen to us.
\"Ground given away is ground lost and it\'s not good news. But hopefully we can still get the sort of prominent position that we want in the early stages of the race.\"
An outside post for Leroidesanimaux in the Mile had trainer Bobby Frankel perplexed about how the slot would affect his charge\'s prospects.
Leroidesanimaux will break from stall 11 under John Velazquez with only one horse outside him in the 12-runner field.
Frankel said: \"I can\'t say I\'m too happy with it.
\"They start this race on a turn, so being outside isn\'t good.
\"Against that, he\'s got plenty of speed but you don\'t want to have to use too much of it to get a position. Still, what are you going to do?\"
Europe\'s challenge for the Mile rests with Majors Cast, Valixir and Whipper, with the latter looking on good terms with himself when doing some half-speed work under Julien Auge on the main track at Belmont this morning.
Whipper looks to have a satisfactory draw in three, while Valixir will break from the 10 post and Frankie Dettori\'s mount, Majors Cast, has been drawn seven.
Belmont officials confirmed the two races due to be held on the turf track before Saturday have both been switched to the dirt track in order to ensure \"perfect conditions\".
A 20-metre wide strip of ground on the turf course nearest to the running rail has not been used for over a month in preparation for the event.\"
