Dettori ready to eclipse the Yanks

Frankie Dettori has given Sulamani a major vote of confidence ahead of the Breeders' Cup Turf and rejected any suggestion that European jockeys will be eclipsed by their American counterparts at Santa Anita on Saturday.

Dettori came in for some of the most stinging criticism of his career when Swain was beaten in a desperate finish to the Breeders' Cup Classic in 1998 and is well aware that many experts feel that European jockeys are prone to costly errors when the pressure is on round the unforgiving American tracks.

Santa Anita's helter-skelter turns have been described as "like running round the inside of a barrel" by John Gosden, yet Dettori insists that he is well equipped to add to his tally of three Breeders' Cup wins.

He said: "We all try to prepare hard for the Breeders' Cup and one of the reasons I came out here early this year was to get to understand the sharp bends and the short straight at Santa Anita.

"The most important part of all is to get your horse used to them. It's a big challenge, but I feel very comfortable with it and I have two very good mounts in Sulamani and Mezzo Soprano."

Having ridden both Falbrav and Sulamani to major victories in the last 12 months, Dettori offers a unique insight into Europe's two main contenders for the Turf.

He added: "Falbrav is a wonderful horse who has seemed bigger and stronger than ever this season, but when I won the Japan Cup on him late last year he seemed to be on his stamina limit over 11 furlongs.

"But with Sulamani there are no stamina worries at all, as he thrives over a mile and a half.

"He's been based in America to campaign for this race for almost the whole summer, so there are no worries over whether he has acclimatised, and the one thing that he will definitely be doing on Saturday is finishing strongly."