An ideal-looking draw in stall five failed to placate John Oxx after an inspection of the turf track at Belmont Park yesterday left the trainer of Azamour feeling pessimistic ahead of Saturday's Breeders' Cup Turf.

Bookmakers Coral and Totesport both pushed Azamour out to 7 to 2 in the betting for the £2 million 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 to 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."

British hopes had already been dented earlier in the day when Luca Cumani withdrew Alkaased after the horse returned a bad blood count.

Treated less well in the draw was Ouija Board, drawn 13 of 14 for her bid at a repeat victory in the Filly and 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."

Meanwhile, in his final race before retirement to stud, Vinnie Roe has come in for strong support in next Tuesday's Melbourne Cup after the eight-year-old turned heads with a brilliant dawn gallop at Flemington.