Friston Forest can leave Dettori rueing Cup choice

Even Frankie Dettori can't get it right all of the time and Friston Forest could just prove the point by landing a surprise success in tomorrow's Goodwood Cup at 3.25.

Without Aidan O'Brien's star stayer Yeats in the line-up, the two-mile Group 2 contest has a slightly jaded feel to it with a number of the runners shown as being below this grade on more than one occasion.

On the other side of the coin, it opens the door for some to earn their spurs in a new division with the likes of Askar Tau, Centennial, Enroller and the Godolphin pair of Friston Forest and Schiaparelli all looking to have the potential to do well as stayers - even if they would have been no match for an on-song Yeats.

With Godolphin back among the winners in recent weeks, the Saeed bin Suroor-trained duo must be considered leading contenders, and it is perhaps no surprise that their No1 jockey Dettori has opted to ride Schiaparelli after he finished third behind Doctor Fremantle at Newmarket's July meeting on his seasonal bow.

A multiple Group-race winner in Germany for trainer Peter Schiergen, the six-year-old impressed when pushing Zambezi Sun all the way in the Prix Foy at Longchamp on his first start for new connections last season and there should be races to be won with him.

However, while Schiaparelli is unproven over further than a mile and three-quarters, Friston Forest always shaped as if he could become a top-flight stayer, making the useful Coastal Path work for victory in a Group 2 over a furlong short of tomorrow's trip as a three-year-old.