Harrington and O'Briens out to break long Irish drought in Prix de Diane

Prix de Diane Longines | Group 1 | 3yo fillies | 1m2½f | SKY

Coronation Stakes heroine Alpine Star spearheads a three-strong attack from Ireland for a prize which has only once fallen to an Irish trainer in its 176-year history.

With Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas principals Peaceful and Fancy Blue also making the trip there has surely never been a better chance of doubling the tally on the 50th anniversary of victory for the Seamus McGrath-trained Sweet Mimosa.

Alpine Star looked better the further she went at Ascot and while she must prove she handles the extra two and a half furlongs, her family history is reassuring given her granddam East Of The Moon won the Diane in 1994.

"She's in great form and arrived in France alright and is settling in well," said trainer Jessica Harrington. "It's a terrific race but we couldn't be happier with her after Ascot. This looks a good option, stepping up to a mile and a quarter, and we're excited."

Peaceful benefited from a prominent sit under Seamie Heffernan throughout her Classic success at the Curragh, and looks another who should cope with the step up in trip.

Peaceful: a smooth winner of the Tattersalls Irish 1,000 GuineasCredit: Patrick McCann

"She's in good form and flies out in the morning," said O'Brien. "Everything has been smooth with her since the Curragh. We always thought she'd get further and the gradual step up should suit her. It should be within her compass."

Son Donnacha O'Brien saddles his first French Group 1 starter and is also in a positive frame of mind regarding the step up to ten furlongs for Fancy Blue.

"It's a very hot race but she's in good form and her work has been good," he said. "We're hoping for a good run but obviously it's a hot race. Another two furlongs should suit her well.

"We'll see what happens here but if she ran well and came out of the race well you'd have to think about the Irish Oaks for her, but that's obviously a bit down the line yet. Her run in the Irish 1,000 Guineas was perfect – lovely – and she's come out of it very well."

Key stat

For all the strength of the foreign challenge, French trainers will have high hopes of keeping the prize at home, with Raabihah bidding to become the ninth unbeaten filly in 13 years to land the Diane.

What they say

Pia Brandt, co-trainer of Miss Extra
We decided to supplement her because none of her last three races have been hard, she only really ran the home straight with only one flick of the whip. She has put on some more weight and seems better than ever. 2,100 metres is obviously a question mark but she'll be ridden for herself rather than against the others, and we'll see if she gets home.

Jean-Bernard Roth, assistant to Jean-Claude Rouget, trainer of Vadsena and Raabihah
Vadsena is astonishing in the way she has risen up from the little tracks. She ran very well to be second on her first start at Chantilly and the form seems good. She's interesting. Raabihah has been the revelation of the spring having shown up very well at Cagnes during the winter. She has developed physically pretty quickly and she does everything very easily. She's a very good filly.

Alain de Royer-Dupre, trainer of Ebaiyra
She's quick on her feet and has plenty of quality. There are 11 fillies and they look a very nice bunch. The filly is in magnificent condition and she has progressed a lot from her last run. Now we'll find out if she is good enough.

Alain de Royer-Dupre already has six wins to his credit in the Prix de Diane and saddles Ebaiyra on SundayCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Fabrice Chappet, trainer of Mageva, Magic Attitude and Speak Of The Devil
Speak Of The Devil has been in very good form since the Poule d’Essai in what was a remarkable performance on only her third start. She has a lot of class but the big question mark is over the trip. Magic Attitude won brilliantly at Longchamp and then it didn’t go so well in the Prix Saint-Alary where she pulled too hard. She’ll be ridden to relax this time and she has a lot of quality. Mageva ran very well in the Poule and showed that she would benefit from being stepped up in trip.

Andre Fabre, trainer of Solsticia
The problem with Solsticia is that she has a very delicate mouth and last time Maxime couldn’t ride her properly as she was hanging. Now she wears a different bit and apart from that she is good enough to be there at the finish and has a good turn of foot.

Peslier misses out

The Prix de Diane Longines is one of the few missing pieces of Olivier Peslier's glittering career but the 47-year-old misses the ride on Ebaiyra after falling at Saint-Cloud on Friday.

Peslier was transferred to hospital in Paris and was due to have an operation to repair a fractured jaw on Saturday. Vincent Cheminaud takes over on Ebaiyra as well as aboard Peslier's intended mount in the Prix du Jockey Club, The Summit.

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