RACING: John Oxx has confirmed that his star four-year-old Azamour will try the mile and a half distance for the first time in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes, but also conceded that there are stamina doubts in his pedigree.
Azamour won the third Group One of his career, and the second at a mile and a quarter, when winning the Prince Of Wales Stakes at York last month but he will now step up in trip.
Already the Oxx-trained colt is a general 9 to 4 favourite for the King George where he is likely to again clash with his old rival Grey Swallow who finished ahead of him in the Tattersalls Gold Cup in May. The Irish middle distance stars have faced each other four times already with Azamour emerging best in the Irish Champion Stakes last year. But the King George in 18 days time will be the first clash between them at a mile and a half. "All being well Azamour is a definite runner in the King George. Obviously if there was a lot of rain and the ground was soft we might think again, but you would have to be very unlucky to get that in July," said Oxx yesterday.
The Curragh trainer added: "The reason we're racing is that we want to try him at a mile and a half at some stage and now looks the best time instead of waiting for the Arc when the ground might be a bog. On breeding he doesn't look like he will get it, but he has been finishing his races at a mile and a quarter very strongly. We want to find out and this looks the obvious time to do that." Oxx also indicated yesterday that the unbeaten Stakes winner Behkiyra is a more likely starter for his yard in Sunday week's Darley Irish Oaks than Hazariya. Oxx is already a double Oaks winner with Ebadiyla (1997) and Winona (1998).
Fran Berry, who rides as second jockey to Oxx, leads the riders table this season, but he will have to serve out a full nine-day suspension for careless riding after an appeal against the severity of the sentence he picked up over the Curragh Derby Festival was turned down at the Turf Club yesterday morning.
A prize-fund of €200,000 was announced yesterday for the Hewlett Packard Galway Plate which will be the richest race ever run at Ballybrit when the festival begins at the end of the month. In total a pot of €1.7 million will be competed for over the seven days with the €190,000 Guinness Galway Hurdle becoming the richest hurdle race run in Ireland this year.
Tonight's action at Roscommon gives punters the chance to recover the losses incurred on Gane Cathriona at Bellewstown last week when the Montjeu filly goes in the opening Auction Maiden.
