Diamond Necklace extends unbeaten run with dominant Nassau Stakes victory

Diamond Necklace made it six wins from six starts after producing another dominant display to land the Qatar Nassau Stakes at Glorious Goodwood.

Stepping up to face older fillies for the first time, Aidan O’Brien’s 4-6 favourite answered every question in style, travelling strongly throughout before quickening clear under Ryan Moore to beat Friendly Soul by two and three-quarter lengths.

The race was set up by stablemate Moments Of Joy, who ensured there would be no tactical affair by setting a strong early gallop. Moore was happy to sit in behind Friendly Soul before making his move approaching the final furlong, with Diamond Necklace quickly putting the result beyond doubt.

“It was very easy really,” Moore said after the race.

Already a Group 1 winner in the Prix Marcel Boussac, Poule d’Essai des Pouliches and Prix de Diane, Diamond Necklace added another top-level success to her growing record with a performance that suggested she is still improving.

O’Brien was full of praise for his latest Group 1 star after another polished display.

“This filly has a lot of quality, she’s very high quality, you can see from how she travels through her races,” he said. “Ryan was saying he hoped they’d lead him longer but when he came out he had to go on with her as her stride was getting broken. She has a lot of class and quality.

“She’s got heavier today but Rachel [Richardson], who rides her, was very confident it was stronger she’d got rather than heavy. And so she showed on her way to the line.

“She’s a lovely filly. She’s danced every dance and this was a mile and a quarter against older fillies so we didn’t know what would happen. We wanted to put on pace to find out, we didn’t want a Mickey Mouse race.”

Friendly Soul, winner of last year’s Prix de l’Opera, briefly looked poised to challenge turning for home, but once Moore asked Diamond Necklace to lengthen, the favourite quickly settled the contest.

Moore believes the unbeaten filly is continuing to progress with every outing.

“She was very confident today,” he said. “It’s the best she’s felt and she’s improving with her racing. She’s up in her weight and is clearly thriving. She’s a proper racing machine.”

The victory also continued a remarkable season for O’Brien, with Diamond Necklace becoming his 14th Group 1 winner of 2026 as the Ballydoyle trainer closes in on his own record-breaking campaign from 2017.

Despite that milestone, O’Brien’s attention was already turning to what comes next, with several major targets under consideration later this year.

“Constitution River’s the boss. He will get all the options,” he said.

The trainer did not rule out the possibility of the pair meeting later in the campaign.

“At the moment he’s going to York, so we’re looking forward to that. The lads are never afraid to run them against each other, so we’ll get the next one out the way and see where we go after that.”

Diamond Necklace also has no shortage of options for the remainder of the season.

“She has options now, she could stay at a mile and a quarter and go to the fillies’ race in France, to Leopardstown or to an Arc trial, she has everything open to her,” O’Brien said. “She does handle soft ground as well as fast and she’s a great cruiser, she’s a lot of quality and is progressing great, so we’re over the moon.

“I don’t know how far we’ll go; her next run will tell us where we go after that. She could end up anywhere: Ascot, Longchamp, the Breeders’ Cup. She has a long stride on her and she loves a fast track so she has a lot of options.”