Three Group 2 races on May Day

Wednesday is the May Day holiday in Europe and the racing community will mark the event with three Group 2 races in France and Italy.

Bedawin rates mild favoritism in the one-mile Prix du Muguet at Saint-Cloud for older horses. Trained by Francois Doumen, Bedawin is coming off a victory in the Group 3 Prix Edmond Blanc over the course and distance, but he will be tested by the John Gosden-trained British invader Binary File. Binary File makes his 4-year-old debut after having won a maiden and an allowance in his only two starts to date last year.

In the Premio Parioli (Italian 2000 Guineas) at the Capannelle in Rome, Salselon is the local favorite. The winner of a Group 3 sprint against older horses last fall, he returned with a victory in the listed Premio Pisa in March. John Dunlop sends the dangerous Craven Stakes fifth-place finisher, Flat Top, but the selection is Bill Haggas's British invader, Dupont. A Zafonic colt, he was third behind Castle Gandolfo in the Fosters-International Trial, from which runner-up Aramram emerged to win the listed Thirsk Classic Trial.

In the Premio Regina Elena, or Italian 1000 Guineas, British listed winner Kootenay squares off against Italian listed winners Dayara, Meanya, Rosa delle Alpi, Torrigiana, and 15 other 3-year-old fillies in a wide-open renewal of this mile classic.