O’Brien backing Diamond Necklace to sparkle in French Oaks Aidan O’Brien is hoping Diamond Necklace can prove a chip off the old block by emulating her sire St Mark’s Basilica in landing a French Classic double in Sunday’s Prix de Diane. The unbeaten daughter of O’Brien’s four-time Group One winner has already proved herself the best of his northern hemisphere progeny with a scintillating victory in the Poule d’Essai Des Pouliches at ParisLongchamp last month. Now O’Brien says the filly is giving him the same sort of vibes ahead of her Prix de Diane date as her sire did before he followed up his 2021 French 2000 Guineas win in the Prix du Jockey Club. Emulating a Legendary Sire “This is a very prestigious race, very important for a filly and it is a Classic. It is a tough race to win so you need a very good filly to do it with,” said O’Brien. “But she is very like her sire St Mark’s Basilica and everything she does is very like him.” St Mark’s Basilica enjoyed a fantastic campaign five years ago, adding to his two French Classic wins with further top-level successes in the Coral-Eclipse and the Irish Champion Stakes before retiring at the end of the season. O’Brien added: “St Mark’s improved again when he went up to a mile and a quarter and while you are never sure we always thought that a mile and a quarter wouldn’t be any problem for this filly. “She is good and very straightforward and a well-balanced filly who travels well in her races.” Burke Seeks Second French Oaks One of the biggest threats to Diamond Necklace is the Karl Burke-trained Evolutionist, who finished second to O’Brien’s True Love in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket. Burke admits there is a “small doubt” regarding her stamina for 10 furlongs, but the Spigot Lodge handler could not be happier with her condition. “I’ll be surprised if we don’t get the trip, but equally there is a small doubt in my mind. We took her out of the Coronation Stakes (at Royal Ascot next week) and if we’d left her in we may have been going there instead,” he said. “But we always said we’d go back to France, hopefully she will stay and be able to show that turn of foot at the end of it.” Both O’Brien and Burke are bidding for a second French Oaks success, with the former hoping to add to Joan Of Arc’s victory in 2021 and the latter looking for Evolutionist to emulate Laurens’ 2018 win at Chantilly. That filly provided a the North Yorkshire-based trainer with a first Classic success, a day which lives long and fondly in his memory. “Laurens was our first Classic winner in this race and it was a fantastic day. Like Evolutionist she came second in the Guineas, but while Laurens was a powerful, very mature sort of three-year-old, this filly is still developing and doesn’t carry a lot of weight,” said Burke. “She had a tough race in the Guineas, as you would expect, but she seemed to be very fresh and well when we rode her out before she left for France on Thursday. “Diamond Necklace is going to be hard to beat, but then again she is going to be racing on totally different ground to Longchamp (where it was heavy) and you should never be afraid of one horse.” Evolutionist has company in the English raiding party, with Ed Walker running his Musidora second Felicitas and William Haggas represented by the unbeaten Lilt, another to win during York’s Dante meeting. Brian Meehan’s Esna and David Menuisier’s Goodwood scorer Inis Mor make up the English quintet. Lordan Bidding to Strike Again Diamond Necklace will be joined by stablemate Moments Of Joy, who will be ridden by Wayne Lordan. The Ballydoyle rider will be keeping his fingers crossed the Justify filly continues the good record of O’Brien second strings in Classics this season. Of O’Brien’s six wins in England, Ireland and France, Ryan Moore has been on the wrong one three times, with Lordan the beneficiary twice on True Love and Precise in the English and Irish Guineas. A strong field is completed by Habibi, Evita, Pink Panthera and Green Spirit for the home side.
