The first running of this race coincided with the inaugural staging of all four Gr.1 races over the Invitation Cup week-end at Hyderabad in 1983 and it was won by the four year-old Camino, trained by R.R. Byramji and ridden by Stephen Craine. Camino was a raging hot order and nobody had the need for binoculars as Craine took the colt to the front as soon as the gates opened and the distinctive, all-red colours of the Khataus were clearly visible in the van right till the end of the race. Another well blacked Usha-bred, Land of Glory, won the next -- also the last of the week-end -- race and the crowd left Malakpet in a happy frame of mind.

For some reason, the Super Mile was not run at Mumbai in 1989 and the following year at Calcutta. Since 2002, it has been run as the Maj. P.K. Mehra Memorial Super Mile Cup in honour of the founder of Usha Stud who had passed away in a tragic helicopter crash the previous year. With 20 members of the Classic cop winning the race in 35 renewals, it is an event to which the Classic generation looks forward with anticipation. However, with only 13 favourites obliging in those years, it is the least punter friendly Gr.1 of the weekend. The sunny side is that the 37 percent is roughly on par with overall percentage of favourites and four favourites have come good in the last five years. Serjeant At Arms, who is sadly no more, is the only one to have won it twice. 

The Classic generation has the numbers -- 6 vs. 4 -- on its side as well as quality. It can boast of five  Classic winners with four of them having won a Guineas last December. Trafalgar, a winner of the Calcutta Monsoon Derby, Gr.2 and Calcutta Derby, Gr.1 played up badly before the start of the Calcutta 2000 Guineas, Gr.2 and had to be withdrawn. Trafalgar as well as Tenno Sho, Vijays Singham and Gift of Grace are returning to a mile after having run over 2400 m. in their last starts and found wanting. There is nothing wrong with that because four -- Aboline, Cardinal, Myrtlewood and Serjeant At Arms -- of the last ten Super Mile winners had also done likewise. 

Gift of Grace is the only one of her vintage in this race to win a Gr.1 mile Classic. Her three runs over 1600 m. have all been in Classics and she was beaten a short-head by Well Connected in Hyderabad and a neck by Anjeze in Bangalore before bagging the Stylecracker Indian 1000 Guineas, Gr.1. She found the 2400 m. of the Indian Oaks, Gr.1 beyond her ken but plugged on gamely to finish a not-too-faraway fifth. She has had more time to recover and recuperate than others of her age. Sandesh rides her for the first time on Sunday. 

The first one to realise that the mile was her ideal distance was Cosmic Ray. She won the Raghulal Mysore 1000 Guineas, Gr.3 clocking the fastest time for 1600 m. in India but struggled when going over an extended distance in the ARV Group and Catalyst Properties Mysore Derby, Gr.1. She has been beaten narrowly in her two races, both black-type, since reverting to a mile. Being a course and distance winner gives her a real plus point. Vijays Singham caught the eye when he downed the Deccan Derby, Gr.1 winner Consigliori in the Golconda 2000 Guineas, Gr.2. In that race, Consigliori lost a shoe but Vijays Singham won despite a slipped saddle. Srinath, who rode him that day, is replaced by David Egan on Sunday. It has to be added that Vijays Singham has a fascinating pedigree. Srinath, by the way, will be astride the local horse Country Music. The Chennai nominee Glorious Destiny gets a mention for different reasons. He is closely related to Gift of Grace on the dam's side, he has had more starts than any other four year-old in the race and has never raced beyond a mile. He is also the highest rated four year-old without winning a single Classic ! 

The Kingfisher Ultra Indian Derby, Gr.1 is the only race that has showed Trafalgar in a poor light. His four wins so far have all come over different distances and he has had three encounters with Tenno Sho. Tenno Sho drew first blood over 1400 m. but Trafalgar beat him in the Calcutta Monsoon Derby, Gr.2 (2000 m.) and repeated that victory in the Calcutta Derby, Gr.1 (2400 m). They have never clashed at a mile and it is a moot point as to whom the distance suits better..

Prevalent Force is the only Classic winner among the four older participants.  After under performing in the Kingfisher Ultra Indian Derby, Gr.1 and Catalyst Properties Bangalore Derby, Gr.1, Prevalent Force has switched to distances around a mile and he now seems to be at his best over 1400 m. However, he did win the Guindy Gold Cup, once a Graded race, on his penultimate start. His three wins at Mysore have all been over 1400 m. He rarely runs a bad race and is at his best when produced on the wide outside for a late run. The younger milers will test his mettle but he should be on the board. He is the highest rated runner in the field though that is not such a blessing because only Serjeant At Arms has successfully carried that tag to a victory in the last ten years.

The seven year-old mare Watchmyscript (Whatsthescript - Yas Marina) -- one wonders why she has not been retired to stud -- is a real nugget. She has had had 30 starts, won a third of them and been on board in 80 % of her races. Six of her wins have been over a mile and she won the Guindy Gold Cup two years before Prevalent Force did. This is her third Invitation Cup week-end. At Calcutta, she just missed the board in the Super Mile while last year she finished among the "also rans" in the Stayers' Cup. She now comes back to her to her best distance and more importantly, to Mysore where she is a course and distance winner.

Most trends of the last ten years for this race are rather negative. A positive one is that six of the winners have been saddled by Western India-based trainers. The lone Western India representative this year is Truly Epic (Mull of Kintyre - Sun Control). The five year-old gelding, who is trained by Imtiaz Sait, ran a cracker just behind Salazaar and Tasawwur in the S.M. Shah Eclipse Stakes of India, Gr.2 last time out. On the same day, Flying Visit, another ward of Imtiaz Sait, beat Cosmic Ray in the Rusi Patel Trophy, Gr.3. Flying Visit was also nominated here but the veteran trainer has opted for Truly Epic. Truly Epic has more wins over a mile than 2000 m. though his Eclipse effort suggests that he perhaps needs a bit more of ground.   

To come back to trends of the last ten years. Only two fillies -- full-sisters Amelia and Myrtlewood -- have won the race and four favourites have obliged. The only jockey to win it twice is C. Alford who has now hung up his boots and packed his whip. S.S. Attaolahi, who saddles Cosmic Ray, has led in Serjeant At Arms twice after winning this race. A dozen runners, on an average, have gone to the post so we are a bit short this year. The drop in ratings is even more with this year's average (96) a good 10 points below the norm.

PAST THE POST

The very first winner of this race, Camino, was bred at the Usha Stud and trained by Rashid Byramji. Rashid Byramji was also the first trainer to saddle his second winner of this race. That was Accomplish, another Usha-bred, at Calcutta in 1995. When Darius Byramji became a trainer, the first two Super Mile Cup winners that he sent out were Acrobat and Adamile, another pair born at the Usha Stud. 

Usha Stud's first Classic winner (Manitou), first Indian Derby winner (Manitou), first Invitation Cup winner (Manitou)  and first Indian Triple Crown winner (Almanac) were all trained by Rashid Byramji. Rashid Byramji and Maj. P.K. Mehra, the founder of the Usha Stud, shared a lifelong friendship. Like all long relationships, they had their passing differences but it never affected their mutual respect.

On Sunday, a different kind of history will be created. Darius Byramji and Parvati Byramji, husband and wife, will saddle Prevalent Force and Gift of Grace, both Usha-breds, for the Maj. P.K. Mehra Memorial Super Mile Cup, Gr.1. That would not have happened before  in a Gr.1 race in India.