The first Super Mile was run at Hyderabad in 1983. It was sponsored by Charminar and won by Camino, bred at Maj. Mehra's Usha Stud. For some reason, it was not held at Mumbai in 1989 and the following year at Calcutta. After Maj. Mehra passed away in a tragic helicopter crash, Usha Stud came up with the proposal to sponsor the Super Mile in his memory. The proposal was accepted and from 2002 we have had the Maj. P.K. Mehra Memorial Super Mile Cup, Gr.1. The greatest tribute to the founder of Usha Stud has been paid by the horses bred there. Eleven more Usha-breds have won the  Super Mile to put that nursery on the top.

Trends

With six four-year-olds winning, this race is a happy hunting ground for the Classic crop. The average field rating is 105 and the average rating of the winners is 110. Only one top-rated miler, Serjeant At Arms, has won the race and he is the only one to have ever won it twice. It is interesting to note that five of the winners in the last ten years were dropping back to a mile after having discovered their stamina limitations in a Derby. Exactly half the winners had earlier won a mile Classic. Four favourites have obliged and the two fillies -- Amelia and Myrtlewood -- to have won were both foaled at Usha Stud.

Main Contenders

Classy Forest Flame was nominated for this race and duly entered but is said to have had a setback in training and has not accepted. We do, however, have Born Queen (Tazahum - State Secret), also a four year-old and like Forest Flame a Classic winner. In fact, Born Queen is a winner of three Classics having won the South India 1000 Guineas, Gr.2 and bagged the Oaks-Derby double at Guindy. She ran a poor race as the favourite in Immortality's Villoo Poonawalla Indian Oaks, Gr.1 and was put away. After a lengthy spell of rest and recuperation, she's come back refreshed and  has had three starts around a mile. She won the Nilgiris Gold Cup beating My Opinion and Rambunctious but went down to the latter in the Villoo Poonawalla Pune City Gold Cup, Gr.3. As she was giving weight to Rambunctious in both those races she comes out the better at level weights which they will be carrying on Sunday.  She is rated a point higher than her bracket-mate and she renews her partnership with Suraj Narredu who rode in her in her first six races.

Born Queen is owned by U.R.B.B. Ltd. and they will be double-handed with Cosmic Ray (Burden of Proof - Corsican Gal). Cosmic Ray was better fancied than Trafalgar at Mysore in the Super Mile but ran poorly.  Since then, Trafalgar has not won a race and though he was nominated, he has not been entered. Unlike the colt, though, Cosmic Ray has been in excellent form. Like the colt, she has raced five times, twice second to begin with and then reeling off a hat-trick. The hat-trick includes a course and distance victory when bagging the Rusi Patel Trophy in March. In that race, Northern Alliance, Sultan Suleiman, Victorious Sermon and Trafalgar were well beaten. A. Sandesh has guided her to wins in her last three outings and he will be riding her once again.  

Another previous start and a previous course and distance winner is Rambunctious (Kingda Ka - Circle of Bliss). When last seen under the colours, the filly scored a stylish victory in the Villoo Poonawalla Pune City Gold Cup, Gr.3 over a mile. The race had a good field including Born Queen, Grand Accord, Sultan Suleiman, Victorious Sermon and Alluring Silver and was a perfect dress rehearsal for Sunday's race where she will be running at level weights and that makes her task difficult.  What weighs in her favour is that four year-olds have a good record in the race as does her trainer Pesi Shroff. C. Umesh rode her for the first time last out and he rides her again on Sunday.

The late Dr. M.A.M. Ramaswamy's silks will be prominent in most races on Sunday and here they will be carried By Taimur (Multidimensional - Tammy O). Taimur did hit the board in Immortality's Indian Derby but has just one win from ten starts. That came in the South India 2000 Guineas, Gr.2 so he does have a mile Classic to his credit. Northern Alliance (Gusto - Allonia) is the winner of the Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Golf Course Mysore 2000 Guineas, Gr.2 but has more wins over 1400 m. than at a mile.

The Field

The average field rating is 95 with five four year-olds giving a slight edge to the Classic crop. .

PAST THE POST

The Late Maj P.K. Mehra will always be remembered as one of the best all time breeders in India. For many in this sport, racing is only a hobby for they have prosperous callings away from the Turf. For Maj P.K. Mehra, racing and breeding were his main occupation while his hobbies and interests lay outside the game. One of his passions was golf. Once, during a conversation about Usha Stud and his methods, he was asked, "Is there something you are looking to improve ? "Yes", he replied, "my putting !"