It’s a crammed international big-race weekend with the best appearing to be saved for last on Sunday as Diamond Necklace tries to fill a rare Group One gap on Aidan O’Brien’s stellar CV.
The unbeaten superstar filly is back in France for Sunday’s €400,000 Sumbe Prix Jean Romanet on a Deauville programme that also sees O’Brien triple-handed in the Prix Morny.
The Irishman has won the top Group One juvenile contest five times, but he could hardly be better armed in aiming for a first victory in the Romanet, off at 3.25pm.
Diamond Necklace is unbeaten in six starts, four of them at the top level, including both the French Guineas and Oaks, while making light of older opposition last time in Goodwood’s Nassau.
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It’s a profile that has her a general 8/1 second favourite for the ultimate French prize, October’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. For now, though, O’Brien has found an option to keep her against her sex, and even the local mare Aventure looks up against it.
Diamond Necklace is joined by her stable companions, Moments Of Joy and Beautify, while Irish hopes will also be carried by Ger Lyons’ Red Letter. Rebel Moon represents Joseph O’Brien in the 10-furlong contest.
Just how extensive nature of the weekend’s top-flight action can be gauged by how Joseph O’Brien will have been in top-class competition in the early hours of Sunday morning.
His Green Carrera is a 4/1 shot in US Morning Line betting for the $300,000 Del Mar Oaks, off at 2am Irish time. Winner of the Sandringham at Royal Ascot in June, Italian rider Umberto Rispoli will partner the Irish hope, who finished runner-up to Meriden on her last start in Killarney.
A 10-strong field also includes Kensington Lane, who landed last month’s Belmont Oaks at Saratoga on her final start for Donnacha O’Brien. Now trained in California, Kensington Lane is a 3/1 favourite for the nine-furlong turf contest.
Aidan O’Brien has also yet to strike in Saturday’s Group One feature on the final day of the Ebor festival, although the City Of York Stakes was only promoted to top-flight status last year.
He runs the one-time classic hope Puerto Rico, whose disappointing season to date has seen him effectively relegated to backup status for Gstaad at both Ascot and Goodwood. He sports first-time cheekpieces in the seven-furlong contest, where Robson Aguiar relies on his Minstrel Stakes winner, Power Blue.
Parked on the rail is Godolphin’s top-notch older horse Notable Speech, and bookmakers reckon his big threat will be Zaveteri who’s drawn next door.
Despite all the Group One action, for many this weekend’s highlight will be the historic Ebor Handicap, one of the biggest betting races of the year. Worth £500,000 (€580,000), the great old race has become something of a benefit for Irish horses, with six of the last 10 winners coming from this country.
Willie Mullins is back with two runners including a real dark horse in new recruit Love Me Tender, who carries the HOS Syndicate colours, carried to success a year ago by Ethical Diamond and in 2023 by Absurde.
Winner of both his races in Germany, and fourth in a French Stakes race last October, there is the prospect that sneaking in at the bottom of the weights off a mark of 96 might be dangerous to bookmakers’ health.
Henry de Bromhead is back with last year’s runner-up Ascending, while Ryan Moore teams up with Joseph O’Brien for Emit.
If picking Diamond Necklace in Sunday’s Romanet was straightforward, Moore’s decision to opt for Man’s Best Friend over the Coventry hero Great Barrier Reef in the Morny will sway a lot of people towards the Richmond winner.
Up against him is the impressive Norfolk winner Orthadox, while filly Senorita Bonita takes her chance too, alongside another Irish hope in Tribeca.
It’s Group Two action at the Curragh but Saturday’s Future Champions card has a pedigree for throwing up proper Group One performers, and it’s not difficult to believe that Alpha could be just such a proposition sooner rather than later.
The unbeaten filly is a daughter of the outstanding Alpha Centauri, whose name is attached to the Debutante Stakes in which her daughter lines up.
Alpha is one of a five-strong field all trained by Aidan and Joseph O’Brien, no surprise since all of the dozen entries at the previous acceptance stage were from the yards of the O’Brien family.
It’s a greater spread of connections in the Group Two Coomore Futurity, with Fozzy Stack bringing his Chesham-winner Nola Soul back into action, although Giant Sequoia could prove the one to beat.
There will be Group Three action at Naas on Sunday, where Havana Anna will have to bounce back to form in the Ballyogan Stakes after failing for fire on her last start. If she doesn’t, the English raider First Instinct should prove hard to beat on the back of a fine York run.
His ownership means the relatively unremarkable Reaching High will get plenty attention when he makes his jumping debut in Killarney’s Saturday opener. Carrying the colours of the King and Queen of England, Danny Mullins will do the steering on a horse that has twice failed to fire at Royal Ascot.
Galway Hurdle winner Putapoundinthejar makes his debut over fences in a later Beginners Chase, although Bowensonfire’s experience could prove crucial.
