Mayday Magic

France's Mayday bank holiday sees Saint-Cloud host its customary card on Tuesday, with the G2 Prix du Muguet the centrepiece. Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum's consistently high-achieving Taareef (Kitten's Joy) has three pounds to give away to his rivals after registering back-to-back wins in the G2 Prix Daniel Wildenstein over this trip at Chantilly in September, which followed a runner-up placing behind Ribchester (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}) in the G1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp there earlier in the month. Among his chief rivals are Al Shaqab Racing's Heshem (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}), who was having his first start since finishing second in the 2017 G1 Dubai Turf when successful in a conditions event on Chantilly's Polytrack Feb. 23, and Godolphin's 2017 Muguet hero Jimmy Two Times (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}). Like Heshem, he missed most of last season and was having his first start back when third in the course-and-distance G3 Prix Edmond Blanc Apr. 2. “Jimmy Two Times ran a nice race on his first start of the season and we hope to see that he has stepped up from that effort,” Godolphin's Lisa-Jane Graffard commented. “He likes cut in the ground and any rain will help his chances.”