Diamond Necklace’s outstanding fusion of speed and stamina is likely to make her difficult to beat in Thursday’s (30 July) G1 Nassau Stakes (1985m), the highlight of the third day of Glorious Goodwood.

The unbeaten daughter of St Mark’s Basilica is out to give trainer Aidan O’Brien his third consecutive Nassau victory, following on from Opera Singer in 2024 and Whirl in 2025, and his seventh victory in this historic fillies and mares contest, first run in 1840.

Diamond Necklace has plundered three French Group 1 prizes in her last three starts, first asserting her dominance in October’s G1 Prix Marcel Boussac (1600m), then returning to the same ParisLongchamp course and distance in May to clear away from 14 rivals when landing the first of two Classics, the G1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (1600m).

She then stepped up to 2100m for the other French fillies Classic – Chantilly’s G1 Prix de Diane in June – and, although the margin over Pink Panthera was only a short neck in a pulsating finish, rider Ryan Moore said: “At no stage in the Diane did I think we would get beaten. The second horse might have headed her at one point but when I called on Diamond Necklace for a second time she put her head down and immediately got the race back again. She is a brilliant and uncomplicated filly.”

Now proven to get the trip, and on the likely quick ground, she comes from the Classic generation that has won the Nassau in seven of the last 10 years, helped no doubt by the 9lb weight-for-age advantage. And with Wayne Lordan’s mount, Moments Of Joy, in the field to ensure a suitable pace, Diamond Necklace could easily strike Group 1 gold again on her first visit to Goodwood.

Last Saturday, trainer Andrew Balding saw his mare Kalpana outrun some of the top middle-distance males in the world in the G1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2392m) at Ascot. Over shorter trips, Kalpana’s stablemate – dual Group 2 winner See The Fire – is a fearsome Nassau contender, having finished second and third in this in the last two years.

She rates as a threat, as does Friendly Soul, who is developing a remarkable habit of surviving adversity. Winner of ParisLongchamp’s 2024 G1 Prix de l’Opera (2000m), she returned from serious issues at Haydock 594 days later only to put her foot in a hole just as the race was hotting up.

Things looked brighter when she joined 14 others for the G2 Duke Of Cambridge Stakes (1594m) at Royal Ascot the following month, but the winner of five of her eight starts endured a horrendous trip that day, and the fact that she managed to finish third is a big feather in her cap. If fortune favours Friendly Soul this time, she will have a chance in a race that her trainer John Gosden has won five times.

The G1 Nassau Stakes (1985m) is carded as S3-4 and will be run at 10.35pm (Hong Kong time) on Thursday, 30 July.

Photo: Healy Racing