Green Spirit

Eleven fillies will head postward for Sunday's G1 Prix de Diane Longines at Chantilly after declarations were confirmed Thursday morning. Ryan Moore is set to partner G1 Prix Marcel Boussac and G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches heroine, and likely favourite, Diamond Necklace (St Mark's Basilica), who has drawn stall three. Her Aidan O'Brien stablemate Moments Of Joy (Justify) will exit stall eight under Wayne Lordan. "Everything has gone well with Diamond Necklace since she won the French Guineas and I've been very happy with her," O'Brien commented, "The plan was...

Staged in relentless driving rain, Sunday's G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches offered a dramatic backdrop to the continued rise of Ballydoyle's brilliant Diamond Necklace who provided St Mark's Basilica with his first Classic. Sent off the 4-5 favourite returning to the ParisLongchamp track over which she had dominated the Prix Marcel Boussac in the autumn, the regally-bred TDN Rising Star tracked the early pace under cover before being sent down to the rail at the straight's cutaway. Surging to the front 300 metres from the finish, she was kept up...

Following a remarkable Chester May meeting, Ballydoyle will look to continue their momentum into the weekend, with two Classics at stake on Sunday. Heading the baker's dozen going forward for ParisLongchamp's G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains is the yard's Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and Criterium International hero Puerto Rico (Wootton Bassett), while their Prix Marcel Boussac heroine Diamond Necklace (St Mark's Basilica) is heavily favoured for the 15-strong G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches. Puerto Rico (Wootton Bassett), who will be accompanied by the G3 Killavullan Stakes and Goffs Million winner Dorset...

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...

Is there an adequate Japanese proverb that conveys the nation's unflinching endeavour to win the G1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe? Perhaps "Ishi no ue ni mo san nen", to sit patiently on a cold stone for three years which relates to the power of perseverance, or "Nana korobi ya oki", to fall seven times and get up eight, or "Mateba kairo no hiyori ari". The latter points to waiting out the unpredictable to choose the right route and ultimately prevail. Since the country's first real go in 1999...

Alain and Gerard Wertheimer's hitherto undefeated Green Spirit (Kingman) made a black-type breakthrough in last month's G3 Prix Six Perfections and provided her owner-breeders, trainer Christopher Head and jockey Maxime Guyon with a quickfire pattern-race double when dominating the closing stages of Thursday's G2 Prix d'Aumale at ParisLongchamp. "She is all class and always does the minimum," reflected Head. "I wasn't worried seeing her race in last as I think, ultimately, she will have to be ridden like that. It was really, or at least it looked like, a perfect...

Leaving it late to extend her unbeaten record on Sunday, the Wertheimers' Green Spirit (Kingman) was in front where it mattered at the death in Deauville's G3 Sky Sports Racing Prix Six Perfections. Successful twice at Saint-Cloud in May and June, the Christopher Head-trained homebred needed every yard of the seven-furlong trip to reel in the Albany third Balantina (Ten Sovereigns) but was favoured by the bob to register a short-head success as the Aga Khan Studs TDN Rising Star Narissa (Siyouni) finished 1 1/2 lengths away in third. "She...