Chantilly Sunday

3.05 Prix de Diane Longines (Group 1) 1m 2f 110yd

THE dazzling brilliance of Diamond Necklace has scared away much of the opposition so Aidan O’Brien’s unbeaten St Mark’s Basilica filly will not have the usual big field luck-in-running worries to consider when she bursts out of the stalls in the Group 1 Prix de Diane Longines at Chantilly tomorrow.

Just 11 fillies go to post, meaning that no smaller field will have lined up for the French Oaks since 2011, and there is little chance of a home victory, given that domestic trainers account for just four of the runners, none of whom were quoted at single-figure odds at the time of writing.

Diamond Necklace has never really had to roll up her sleeves and battle in any of her four starts to date and the ease of her three-length comeback success in the Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches brooks little argument when it comes to identifying the most likely winner of this mile, two furlongs and 110 yards contest.

Yes, she will be going beyond a mile for the first time, but her dam, Prudenzia, was a one-mile, three-furlong listed winner who has already produced no less than eight offspring who have been successful at a mile and a quarter or beyond.

She also has the services of a pacemaker, Moments Of Joy, to ensure against a falsely-run race.

Yet, while the top potential locally-trained Diane hopefuls have largely either fallen by the wayside or ducked a clash with the Irish wonderfilly, a five-pronged British assault is still notable in both its size and its quality.

Pick of the quintet is the Karl Burke-trained Evolutionist, who beat all bar True Love in the 1000 Guineas and should relish this step up in trip.

The other Anglo raiders are William Haggas’s unbeaten listed scorer, Lilt; the Ed Walker-trained Group 3 Musidora Stakes runner-up, Felicitas; last year’s Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac fourth, Esna, who hails from the Brian Meehan stable; and, from the yard of David Menuisier, Inis Mor, who bounced back from a Guineas flop to land a Goodwood listed event three weeks ago.

Should a member of the home team prove good enough to be involved in the finish, it is likely to be Green Spirit, who got closer to Diamond Necklace than any filly has managed before or since when a length second in the Boussac.

That margin went up to four and a half lengths when Green Spirit came home in third in the Pouliches but her trainer, Christopher Head, is in much better form now than he was then.

SELECTION: DIAMOND NECKLACE Next best: Evolutionist