This is a race that has been a happy hunting ground for the members of Classic crop which has put it across the older generations 18 times in 31 runnings. The average is even better in the last ten years when it has been successful on seven occasions. Yet, the older horses will outnumber the Classic generation on Sunday. As of now, eleven horses have accepted but Acclaimed and Shivalik Storm are due to run the The Hindu Sprinters' Cup, Gr.1 on Saturday and their participation a day later would obviously depend on how they come out of their first race. Even if both Acclaimed and Shivalik Storm don't run, the numeric advantage will still rest with the older horses. This year's field has an average rating of 105.6 which is lower than the average of  109.4 of the recent past.

It is so often said that in warfare it is not the numbers but the quality of weapons that is the deciding factor. This is where the Classic generation scores for it has in its ranks one guided missile whereas the older generations carry much less lethal armaments. That 'guided missile' is the filly Myrtlewood. Before her prospects are discussed, it seems relevant to ponder on the question as to why her connections have preferred the Super Mile when she could have been competing in the Invitation Cup. It has to be confessed that this is merely an exercise in reading the minds of the connections; their real reasons may be known best to them. The stakes available for winning the Super Mile are the same as those for finishing second in the Invitation Cup. Myrtlewood did finish within half a length of Desert God in the Indian Derby but the colt would have won more readily with an unhampered run. Add Quasar and Be Safe to Desert God and assess the probability of Myrtlewood placing in the first two. On that basis, the Super Mile offered Myrtlewood a better opportunity.  Also, perhaps, the connections feel that though their filly ran two very good races, the Oaks and the Derby, over 2400 m., a mile is her ideal distance. Then, there is the matter of a jockey's availability. With P.S. Chouhan committed to Be Safe and P. Trevor claimed for Angel Dust, a lesser jockey would have had to be declared. 

Conjecture apart, the fact is that Myrtlewood will be running the Super Mile and she has a very good chance of winning it. Her full-sister Amelia won the race at Hyderabad in 2014 while her dam Adamile claimed it on this very track in record time back in 2001. She won the Eat India Indian 1000 Guineas, Gr.1 in a scintillating style. She ought to be at very short odds that prohibit a bet and the ultra-cautious will be wary of the fact that Myrtlewood has not won other than at Mahalakshmi.

Myrtlewood's contemporaries -- Bold Command, Baratheon and That's My Darling -- are a motley lot and have little chance on form of beating her. Bold Command has been best at a mile and is the winner of Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Gold Club Mysore 2000 Guineas, Gr.3. He finished fourth in the Deltin Casinos Indian 2000 Guineas, Gr.1, well behind the battling pair of Phoenix Tiger and Costa del Sol. Myrtlewood beat the two sons of Phoenix Tower quite easily in the Derby. That's My Darling is yet to win a black-type race while Baratheon is a winner of South India 2000 Guineas, Gr.2, a race in which all the five runners were saddled by Robert Foley.

The highest rated horse in the field is the seven year-old Machiavellianism. A winner of 16 races, divided equally over a mile and 1400 m., he has been very consistent and rarely runs a bad race. He won the Nakshatra Indian 2000 Guineas, Gr.1 in his time. Age, however catches up and he hasn't won away from Malkapet for almost two years now and his two previous attempts to win this race were abortive. He comes into the race on the back of a winning run over the distance on his home turf. He should be about the premises.

Perhaps the best of the older brigade is Myrtlewood's stable-mate Apache (Ad Valorem - Chateau Beach). Like Machiavellianism, Apache is equally at home over 1400 m. or a mile, with three wins over each distance. Five of those six wins have come under P. Trevor who has been released by the Mallya camp to take the ride on Apache though it has its own Acclaimed also in the race. Apache has been sparingly raced, has worked himself up through the handicaps though he won the R.N. Kanga Gold Trophy, Gr.3 over a mile on his last start. This is the first time that Apache will be venturing away from Western India.

In the absence of Trevor, Suraj Narredu will be aboard Acclaimed whose younger full-brother Accolade has already surpassed his own career earnings tally in just three starts. That's not to belittle Acclaimed who has been very consistent and game, winning eight of his 22 starts including the Deccan Colts' Championship Stakes, Gr.3 and the Southern Command Gold Trophy, Gr.3. Acclaimed, it has to be mentioned, missed the whole of his winter classic campaign with a sand crack problem and that deprived him of substantial earning potential. He was initially with Pesi Shroff though now he is with S.S. Attaolahi. Half his wins have come over a mile; however, it is almost two years since he won over that distance.

Like Acclaimed, Shivalik Storm will be running the The Hindu Sprinters' Cup, Gr.1 the previous day. It is perhaps likely that both of them are at their best over 1400 m. and could well have run in the Suresh Mahindra Million, Gr.2. Dr. Vijay Mallya has Schiavone running there and Shivalik Storm has graciously let his older half-brother Shivalik Star to take his chance in the mid-distance. Shivalik Storm has won just one of his five races over a mile but is fairly versatile and has the ability to scramble a place, all things falling right in place.

PAST THE POST

This race commemorates the memory of Maj. P.K. Mehra who was so tragically killed in a helicopter crash in 2001. A keen sportsman in his days at the National Defence Academy, he passed out with 'blues' in polo, squash and swimming. He was commissioned in 61st Cavalry, a ceremonial unit of the Indian Army which still has horses. Later, he commanded the President's Bodyguard.

Maj. Mehra's first venture into breeding was when he imported the mare Eagle Don in foal to Entanglement in 1965. That foal, born in 1966, was a grey filly called Mica Express who won the South India Oaks. He established the Usha Stud on the outskirts of Delhi and the first foal born there was Manitou, the first horse to win the Indian Derby by a distance. He also imported stallions Grey Gaston and Razeen whose influence on breeding in India has been immense. Usha Stud still figures prominently among the leading nurseries in India and the legacy of Maj. P.K. Mehra lives on.