Mayson made the leap into group I company a successful one when he led from the start to post a 20-1 upset in the $620,000 Darley July Cup (Eng-I) at Newmarket July 14.
Mayson, a 4-year-old colt by Invincible Spirit, provided jockey Paul Hanagan with his first group I victory in England. Hanagan’s prior group I win came with Wootton Bassett in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (Fr-I) at Longchamp two years ago. Both victories were with runners trained by Richard Fahey.
A field of 12 went to the post in the July Cup after the defections of early favorite Bated Breath, Dubai Golden Shaheen (UAE-I) winner Krypton Factor, and Criterion Stakes (Eng-III) winner Libranno. All three contenders were withdrawn due to the testing conditions of the Newmarket course, which for several days had been saturated by heavy rain.
Soon after the start the field split into three groups, with Mayson leading the main group of runners down the center of the course. Joseph O’Brien had maneuvered Reply toward the far-side rail, while Sepoy led a smaller group along the near-side rail.
Mayson continued to show the way down the center of the course, taking sole command of the lead with four furlongs left. At that point the race was over, as Mayson continued to widen his lead with little encouragement from Hanagan.
Mayson crossed the finish line an impressive five-length winner. The Cheka was second, with favorite Society Rock another length back in third.
Final time for the six furlongs was 1:15.90 over the heavy going.
The victory improved Mayson’s record to five wins in 17 starts. The bay colt is a perfect 3-for-3 at Newmarket, with all three wins coming over yielding or heavy going.
Mayson was bred in England by owner David W. Armstrong’s Highfield Farm. He is out of Mayleaf, an unraced daughter of Pivotal.
Mayson cannot be caught in the Darley July Cup at Newmarket.
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