Diamond Necklace will lead Ballydoyle’s Arc challenge

Diamond Necklace looks set to spearhead the Ballydoyle challenge in the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe with last year’s runner-up Minnie Hauk and Benvenuto Cellini joining her at ParisLongchamp on Sunday.

Trainer Aidan O’Brien stated it was the intention to run all three and the champion trainer indicated he expected stable number one Ryan Moore to pick the four-times Group One winner in the feature.

“We do intend to run all three. Obviously Diamond Necklace has an option of going for the fillies race on the same day (Prix de l’Opera) but at the moment we are looking at going with the three,” said O’Brien.

Diamond Necklace wrapped up her two-year-old career with a win in the Prix Marcel Boussac on last year’s Arc undercard and completed the French Guineas-Oaks double at Longchamp and Chantilly earlier in the season.

She followed that double up running out an impressive winner of the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood before suffering her only career defeat when second behind Aventure in the Prix Jean et Louis Romanet as her Arc warm-up over one mile and two furlongs at Deauville last time.

O’Brien admitted he felt he could have been harder on the filly in the build-up to that race but suggested all has gone well since as she prepares to step up to a mile and a half for the first time.

“She obviously hasn’t run a mile and a half before. We always had it in our mind that she would and I suppose we are going to wait and see what the ground is going to be,” he said.

“We would want it to be on the nice ground going a mile and a half first time. It is possible that Precise could run in the fillies race – the Prix de l’Opera. We need to get a little bit closer to the weekend before we say for definite.”

On that Deauville defeat, O’Brien added: “The ground was a bit softer than we thought it was going to be and Christophe (Ferland) had his filly Aventure in very good form. It is possible that I hadn’t been hard enough on her.

“I was looking for a race that would fill in between this weekend and that weekend (Goodwood) and I didn’t really want to go a mile and a half which is why she didn’t go to the Prix Vermeille (at ParisLongchamp).

“Things have gone very well since and we are very happy with her. She will have one more piece of work to do this week but we are very happy. Ryan has the choice of the three but I would probably think she would be (his pick) but I couldn’t be sure.”