Mile Championship (G1) - Preview (2)

For long the Mile Championship field has been made up of the best of three worlds - the group of sprinters, the group of pure milers and the group of middle-distance runners.

Durandal, who won the Mile Championship back-to-back in 2003 and 2004, primarily worked the sprinters circuit, winning once and placing twice in the Sprinters Stakes; he was also second in the 2004 Takamatsunomiya Kinen.

On the other hand Daiwa Major, winner of the 2006 and 2007 Mile Championships, ran a variety of races at the middle distance. He won the 2004 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2,000 Guineas) and the 2006 Tenno Sho (Autumn) - both at 2,000 meters - while finishing third twice in the 2,500-meter Arima Kinen.

Last year's winner Blumenblatt fell somewhere in between Durandal and Daiwa Major, building her career around the mile before walking off into the sunset with the 25th Mile Championship title.

Headlining this year's group of Japanese horses - 4-year-old-fillies Eva's Request and Sahpresa have flown in from abroad to give them a run for their money - will be Company, who is coming off his first Grade 1 victory at the age of 8 in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) on Nov. 1.

But apart from Company, the rest of the 36 nominations remains level and if punters thought last weekend's Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup - which ended with 11th choice Queen Spumante running off with the crown - was a tough race to call, then this Sunday's Mile Championship will leave them thinking into a knot.

The following are the most talked about horses for the 26th Mile Championship at Kyoto Racecourse, for 3-year-olds and up:

Absolute ABSOLUTE: Five-year-old Absolute won the Saudi Arabia Royal Cup Fuji Stakes on Oct. 24 for his second graded victory, but both of those wins were produced at Tokyo. His only race outside of Eastern Japan has been the Grade 2 Yomiuri Milers Cup at Hanshin in April, when the Shadai-bred horse crossed the line fifth. The Yoshitada Munakata-trained Absolute has been ridden by Katsuharu Tanaka in all 15 starts in what's been a relatively fruitful relationship (sevens wins), and the partnership will continue this weekend. If the son of Tanino Gimlet can handle another trip out west, then he has more than a good chance of finishing in the moneys in the Mile Championship, his second Grade 1 challenge.

Captain Thule CAPTAIN THULE: The Tenno Sho turned out to be too much for last year's Satsuki Sho champion, who in his third race back from an injury layoff of more than a year and three months, finished 12th out of 18 as the sixth choice. Captain Thule, under 58 kilograms for the first time, did face a tough field, but the gap of eight lengths may say something about where the Agnes Tachyon colt currently stands against the best and the brightest of the Japan Racing Association. Trainer Hideyuki Mori has yet to decide who will replace Yuga Kawada in the irons - Kawada had ridden Captain Thule the last seven races - but whoever he finds, the new jockey will have an easier time at 57 kilograms while taking on a much weaker field compared to that of the Tenno Sho. If Captain Thule sticks to his guns and runs another aggressive race, he's capable of making things difficult for likely No. 1 choice Company. The two Satsuki Sho winners who ran in the Mile Championship in the past - Daiwa Major and Genuine in 1996 - both went on to win; Genuine came back from 14th in the Tenno Sho to prevail.

Company COMPANY: From owner Hideko Kondo to trainer Hidetaka Otonashi to jockey Norihiro Yokoyama, anyone and everyone associated with Company has to be heaving a huge sigh of relief that the horse will put an end to his career with at least one Grade 1 title to show for, after beating the likes of Vodka, Screen Hero and Dream Journey to win the Tenno Sho (Autumn) earlier this month. At the age of 8, Company became the oldest winner of a Grade 1 race in the JRA and since, Otonashi has announced that the son of Miracle Admire will retire following the Mile Championship. Given Company's current form, though, he could be heading out to stud next year with two Grade 1 victories to his name, not one. After his performance in the Tenno Sho and with no one anywhere near his class in the field, Company - who has the most JRA Grade race wins of any active horse with eight - should be the favorite in Sunday's race and odds are, he will take the tape first. The veteran has previously run twice in the Mile Championship, taking fourth last year and fifth in 2007. But that was before this year, and as amazing as it seems, he is getting better with age. Otonashi said after winning the Tenno Sho that the only thing which had stood in Company's way of becoming a Grade 1 champion was bad luck. Now that that's out of the way, look for him to end his 35-race career in style this weekend.

Fine Grain FINE GRAIN: The outlook isn't too good for the 2008 Takamatsunomiya Kinen winner, who in his three races this year, has finished 11th, 17th and most recently 16th in the Grade 2, 1,400-meter Swan Stakes at Kyoto Racecourse on Oct. 31. Fine Grain, the 6-year-old owned and bred by Shadai, came in third in the Mile Championship last year as the 10th choice on the heels of a fifth-place finish in the Swan Stakes. Yet trainer Hiroyuki Nagahama's horse doesn't appear to have the drive of last year, and although you can never underestimate the heart of a Grade 1 champion, Fine Grain's best days could very well be behind him. A comeback victory - which would be the first since last year's Takamatsunomiya Kinen - will make Fine Grain just the sixth horse of all time to complete the Grade 1 sprint-mile double.

Kinshasa No Kiseki KINSHASA NO KISEKI: The 6-year-old son of Fuji Kiseki continued to tease fans and critics alike in the Swan Stakes last month, winning by a neck under visiting jockey Christophe Soumillon. The victory followed a 12th-place disappearing act in the Oct. 4 Sprinters Stakes as the fourth pick, and a pair of 10th-place outings back in the spring in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen and the Ocean Stakes. But that's pretty much the way it has been for Australian-bred Kinshasa No Kiseki throughout his career, turning in one or two brilliant races followed or preceded by a couple of disappointing ones. Trainer Nobuyuki Hori's horse came in an impressive fifth in the 2006 Mile Championship as a 3-year-old, and two of his seven wins have come at the mile. And while the partnership with the two-time, Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe-winning Soumillon is intriguing, it's difficult to tell which Kinshasa No Kiseki will appear on the day of the race - the one with obvious Grade 1 potential or the one who'll remain anonymous for a 90-second lap around the track.

Maruka Shenck MARUKA SHENCK: Trainer Hiroshi Kawachi, himself a three-time Mile Championship winner as a jockey, is hoping the third time will be the charm for Maruka Shenck, whose half-sister Zarema will also be in the race. While Maruka Shenck came out ahead in the sibling rivalry in the Saudi Arabia Royal Cup Fuji Stakes (second place against Zarema's fifth) the 6-year-old son of Sunday Silence finished 12th in 2006 and sixth last year. How big of a leap Yuchi Shibayama's mount will be able to make in this year's race is a question mark, but Maruka Shenck's chances are as good as any.

Smile Jack SMILE JACK: The 4-year-old son of Tanino Gimlet finished 11th in the Tenno Sho (Autumn), seven lengths out of first. But being back at the mile where he has run his best races - including the Grade 3 Sekiya Kinen victory in August - Smile Jack could turn things around under super-hyped, up-and-coming rider Kosei Miura. Yet the Satoru Kobiyama-trained colt hasn't been able to match up with Company in either the Tenno Sho (Autumn) or the Grade 2 Mainichi Okan (Smile Jack came in seventh out of 11), and it remains to be seen how he'll close the gap with the expected favorite. Still, at the very least, an improvement on his Tenno Sho result should be a guarantee, and a silver medal is definitely within reach for the runnerup of the 2008 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) against this year's field. But whether Smile Jack will be able to reach a Grade 1 winner's circle in what will be his seventh try is another matter.