Mayson is first freshman of 2016 to get a stakes winner

MAYSON (GB) - 2008 bay horse

Freshman sires who make a quick start with their first runners, and who feature among those in the race to get the first juvenile stakes winners of the year, tend to be those who were themselves precocious or leading two-year-olds.

In 2016, the one who secured the honour of being the first with a blacktype scorer to his name is a stallion who was only stakes-placed at two and three, hitting his peak as a four-year-old.

He won only two of his six starts as a juvenile, picking up his blacktype when runner-up in the Listed Ripon Champion 2yo Trophy. He failed to win in five starts at three, although was runner-up in the Listed Wentworth Stakes at Doncaster and third in the Listed Rous Stakes at Ascot.

As a four-year-old, however, the Richard Fahey-trained bay won the Listed Abernant Stakes and Group 3 Palace House Stakes before an impressive five-length score in the Group 1 July Cup, on heavy ground, and he later beat all but Wizz Kid in the Group 1 Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp, beaten by a neck.

A Group 1-winning son of leading sire Invincible Spirit (by Green Desert), who also got his Group 1 win as an older horse, Mayson retired to Cheveley Park Stud. He is by the sire of classic stallion Lawman and of promising speed sires I Am Invincible and Zebedee, and his handful of early runners features Global Applause, impressive winner of the Listed BetVictor Million Pound Goal National Stakes at Sandown.

That Ed Dunlop-trained colt, who made 60,000gns as a foal and then 78,000gns at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, was bred by Robin and Scarlett Knipe and he is the third foal out of Crown (by Royal Applause), a sprint-winning half-sister to the pattern-placed Cochabamba (by Hurricane Run). He is clearly held in high regard as his entries include the Group 2 GAIN Railway Stakes, the Group 1 Keeneland Phoenix Stakes and the Group 1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National Stakes.

That dual winner is joined on Mayson's scoresheet by Spin Doctor who made a winning debut over five furlongs at Nottingham in early May and then finished third in a conditions event over the same trip at Beverley. She is owned and bred by Cheveley Park Stud, she is trained by Richard Fahey, she is a half-sister to five blacktype scorers out of Doctor's Glory (by Elmaamul), and she also holds a blacktype entry.

Mayson is out of Mayleaf (by Pivotal), an unraced half-sister to Group 3 Molecomb Stakes third Folio (by Perugino) and to Bathwick Bear (by Kodiac), the horse who beat him in that juvenile listed contest at Ripon. Their dam, Bayleaf (by Efisio), was a stakes-placed juvenile sprint winner and her full-sister Baize was third in the Group 3 Molecomb Stakes before going on to a notable career at stud.

Her daughter Singhalese (by Singspiel) won the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks, went to stud in Japan, and is the dam of three blacktype winners there, most notably Group 1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) heroine and Group 1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) runner-up Sinhalite (by Deep Impact).

Singhalese's full-brother Kid Edward was Grade 2-placed in the USA, her half-brother Docofthebay (by Docksider) won a listed contest, and her half-sister Farhad (by Red Ransom) is the dam of the Group 1-placed dual Italian listed scorer Branderburgo (by High Chaparral).

Bayonne (by Bay Express), who is the third dam of Mayson, won twice as a three-year-old and was a full-sister to the speedy dual stakes-placed filly Bay Bay. What also makes Bay Bay significant is that her descendants include the pattern-placed juvenile sprint stakes winner Strut (by Danehill Dancer) and also Mince (by Medicean), the top three-year-old filly sprinter of 2012, winner of Ascot's Group 3 Bengough Stakes and of three listed contests, all over six furlongs.

This family has a long-established record of producing blacktype horses, although with the exception of Singhalese and her offspring, it looks rather light for a stallion prospect. That made Mayson something of an unknown quantity when he went to stud, but now that he has that first stakes winner to his name, he may be on his way to becoming another notably successful stallion son for his sire.

MAYSON (GB) – b.2008 – Invincible Spirit – Mayleaf, 5 wins inc July Cup (Gr1), Palace House Stakes (Gr3), Abernant Stakes (L), 2nd Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp (Gr1), Wentworth Stakes (L), Ripon Champion 2yo Trophy (L), 3rd Cammidge Trophy (L), Rous Stakes (L). Sire in England. First foals in 2014. 1 SW viz. GLOBAL APPLAUSE, etc.