Diamond Necklace will look to provide her star trainer Aidan O’Brien with an English and French 1000 Guineas double when she lines up at Longchamp on Sunday.

O’Brien ensured he claimed the Group 1 English 1000 Guineas (1600m) when True Love struck in convincing fashion under Wayne Lordan and in the shape of the high-class unbeaten Diamond Necklace, he looks to have a leading contender for the French equivalent.

The daughter of Wootton Bassett went from strength-to-strength last season and already has experience at Longchamp having rounded out her juvenile campaign with a commanding win in the Group 1 Qatar Prix Marcel Boussac (1600m).

Whilst Ryan Moore is likely to be back in the saddle for her seasonal debut on Sunday, it was Belgium born, French based rider Christophe Soumillon who steered her to Group 1 success at Longchamp last season. The latter is expected to be taking her on this time around and admits it will be a tough task to end her unbeaten record.

He said: “I think Diamond Necklace is going to be very hard to beat. She knows the track well and I’m not afraid to say I think she will be very hard to beat.”

Her main challengers could come from the reopposing pair of Green Spirit and Narrisa, who finished second and third respectively in the Group 1 Qatar Prix Marcel Boussac (1600m) in October. Narrisa has since reversed the form with Green Spirit when they met in the recognised trial, the Group 3 Prix de la Grotte (1600m), with the former finishing a creditable second and the latter shaping nicely back in third.

That form has since taken a boost with the winner Evolutionist going on to chase home True Love in the Group 1 English 1000 Guineas (1600m) and Francis-Henri Graffard, trainer of Narissa, is looking forward to the challenge.

“She’s a lovely filly,” said Graffard. “We have to ride her from behind as she can be quite tricky in her mind.

“She had a hard race last year, so we decided to give her a nice comeback and from behind, she finished really nicely.

“The form is strong; she worked well this morning and should be there on Sunday. The ground shouldn’t be a problem.”

Last year’s Newmarket Rowley Mile Group 2 Rockfel Stakes (1400m) winner Zanthos adds further depth to the international challenge.

Photo: Scoop Dyga