By Tom Frary
ParisLongchamp's Arc card got underway in style as Ballydoyle's Diamond Necklace swooped to provide St Mark's Basilica with his first Group 1 winner in the Qatar Prix Marcel Boussac. Sent off the favourite for the first of the fixture's six Breeders' Cup “Win And You're In” races, the Listed Ingabelle Stakes winner who is a TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard, was always comfortable and when asked to mow down the Wertheimers' unbeaten Green Spirit (Kingman) did so without any need for the whip.
“She's amazing,” commented a smitten Christophe Soumillon after steering the 11-10 favourite to a cosy length success. “I was very confident, she was my best ride of the weekend. The last time, she gave me a great sensation and was so relaxed going to the start and professional. She picked up so easily and it was just hands and heels only. She will be a great filly for next year, she is going to do something great.”
Aidan O'Brien revealed that the 1,000 Guineas is the likely starting point in 2026. “A first [Group 1] for St Mark's Basilica makes it very special,” he said. “We were a little bit worried she was a little bit babyish to come here, but Christophe was adamant it would suit her. She's a lovely Classic filly and I'd say she'll be very comfortable starting at a mile and she will stay a trip I would imagine. She's very exciting and a typical St Mark's, every week goes by they're getting better and stronger.”
Introduced in the fillies' conditions race at The Curragh used for another of the stable's Marcel Boussac heroines in Opera Singer, Diamond Necklace oozed quality to exceed expectations in winning first time and went up another notch last time in the opener to Leopardstown's Irish Champions Day card. With that experience to draw upon, Soumillon was happy to sit and wait on the wing as Green Spirit tended to overdo things on the front end.
Producing a sharp 10.88 penultimate sectional on this testing ground, the winner had all the momentum as she overhauled the Wertheimer filly with the feeling that she had been asked only for the necessary effort. Finishing 1 1/4 lengths behind Green Spirit in third was the Aga Khan Studs runner Narissa (Siyouni), who had been the same margin behind that compatriot in the G2 Prix d'Aumale and 1 1/2 lengths in arrears in the G3 Prix Six Perfections, lending the form a genuine solidity.
Diamond Necklace was bred in Normandy by Haras des Monceaux in partnership with Skymarc Farm and Henri Bozo was emotional afterwards. “It was quite bold to send a mare of that calibre to a young stallion just starting his career, but it paid off,” he said. “We like to send older mares to younger stallions and I try to avoid pairing older mares with older stallions. The bloodline of St Mark's Basilica–his power, depth and turn of foot–made us want to try it and together with Patricia Boutin, who managed Lady O'Reilly's interests, we decided to send her to that stallion.”
“The information I got from Coolmore was that they thought Diamond Necklace would be better at three than at two, so this is great,” he added. “It's a family that usually peaks in midsummer of their three-year-old season and they tend to prefer good ground. It's not a family of big-framed horses and she herself isn't very big. We sold her sister this year at Deauville and she might have been a bit taller.”
Christopher Head said of Green Spirit, “We were beaten by a very good filly bred at Monceaux, which is great news for French breeding. I'm delighted with her performance and we'll look forward to seeing her again next year. She'll come back stronger in 2026 and will be stepped up to 2,000 metres, but she'll go through the Emirates Poule d'Essai des Pouliches first over 1,600 metres. She has the potential to be a top-class three-year-old.”
Nemone Routh said of Narissa, “They didn't go very fast and Narissa was keen early on. Mickael settled her in behind to help her relax and her finishing run was excellent. She's still a bit immature, but has lots of potential. She's a pretty filly, though quite light-framed–we're not yet sure whether she'll run again this year–we'll discuss it with Francis [Graffard].”
DIAMOND NECKLACE WINS THE GROUP ONE QATAR PRIX MARCEL BOUSSAC! 🏆🇫🇷#QPAT pic.twitter.com/LJ6GxsPHGI
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) October 5, 2025
Pedigree Notes
Diamond Necklace's aforementioned half-sisters Magic Wand and Chicquita were top-drawer performers over middle-distances, with the former a leading protagonist in several contests at this level around the globe and successful in one in the MacKinnon and the latter the winner of the Irish Oaks. She is also a half-sister to the Prix Penelope winner and Prix de Diane runner-up Philomene (Dubawi), while Magic Wand has produced the Group-placed Ecstatic (Lord Kanaloa) and Chicquita is responsible for three Stakes performers including Dubawi's G2 Curragh Cup winner Emily Dickinson and American Pharoah's American Oaks runner-up and Irish Oaks third Nicest.
The Listed Prix de la Seine-winning dam Prudenzia (Dansili) is a daughter of Fittocks Stud's Platonic (Zafonic) and therefore a half to the Group 3-winning Pacifique (Montjeu) who is the second dam of Night Of Thunder's dual Group-placed two-year-old filly Skydance and Dubawi's Prix Niel third Parachutiste. This illustrious dynasty includes the Debutante winner and Moyglare Stud Stakes runner-up Vespertilio also by Night Of Thunder and also this stable's past Oaks, Irish Oaks and Yorkshire Oaks heroine Alexandrova (Sadler's Wells).
Prudenzia's record at the Arqana Sales is outstanding, with Chicquita selling for €600,000 as a yearling, her Galileo progeny Gulliver's Travels, Sinnamary, Truth and Magic Wand as well as Philomene and Invincible Spirit's Craven's Legend all selling for seven-figure sums. Another Galileo, Je Ne Regretterien, was a €950,000 purchase at the August Sale and Muhaarar's smart stayer Enemy was €420,000.
Following on from Diamond Necklace's exploits at the prestige Normandy auction 12 months ago, Prudenzia again came up trumps this year with her filly by Vespertilio and Skydance's sire Night Of Thunder selling to Amo Racing for a sale-topping €3million.
Sunday, ParisLongchamp, France
QATAR PRIX MARCEL BOUSSAC – CRITERIUM DES POULICHES-G1, €400,000, ParisLongchamp, 10-5, 2yo, f, 8fT, 1:41.31, vsf.
1–DIAMOND NECKLACE (IRE), 123, f, 2, by St Mark's Basilica (Fr)
1st Dam: Prudenzia (Ire) (SW-Fr), by Dansili (GB)
2nd Dam: Platonic (GB), by Zafonic
3rd Dam: Puce (GB), by Darshaan (GB)
TDN Rising Star. 1ST GROUP WIN; 1ST GROUP 1 WIN. (€1,700,000 Ylg '24 ARAUG). O-Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Mrs John Magnier & Westerberg; B-Ecurie des Monceaux & Skymarc Farm Inc; T-Aidan O'Brien; J-Christophe Soumillon. €228,560. Lifetime Record: SW-Ire, 3-3-0-0, €306,760. *1/2 to Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), G1SW-Aus, GSW & MG1SP-Ire, GSW-Eng, MG1SP-Fr, MGISP-US, G1SP-HK, $4,802,433; Chicquita (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), G1SW-Ire, G1SP-Eng & Fr, $859,094; Philomene (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), GSW & G1SP-Fr, $349,670; Enemy (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}), MGSP-KSA & GSP-Eng, $1,323,627. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Green Spirit, 123, f, 2, Kingman (GB)–Sapphire Pendant (Ire), by Danehill Dancer (Ire). 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. O/B-Wertheimer & Frere; T-Christopher Head. €91,440.
3–Narissa (Ire), 123, f, 2, Siyouni (Fr)–Narmeen (Fr), by Le Havre (Ire). TDN Rising Star. 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. O/B-Aga Khan Studs; T-Francis-Henri Graffard. €45,720.
Margins: 1, 1 1/4, NO. Odds: 1.10, 1.80, 9.00.
Also Ran: Esna (Ire), Aylin (Ire), Clea Chope (Fr), Ozone (Fr), Venosa. Scratched: Bandiagara (GB).
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