Smoken Up, Blacks A Fake, Melpark Major, Monkey King, Auckland Reactor and Kiwi Ingenuity are the current horses to have accepted their invitation to the $500,000 event.

Held at Menagle raceway, the Miracle Mile has attracted two of the biggest harness racers in Victoria with SEW Eurodrive Victoria Cup winner Melpark Major and Australia’s fastest pacer Smoken Up.

Although Melpark Major narrowly lost in last year’s event, trainer Alan Tubbs in confident that the past 12 months of training will give the horse a great chance to make up for last year’s disappointment.

Meanwhile Smoken Up is looking at his third invitation to the Miracle Mile and is in good form after placing third to Monkey King in the New Zealand Cup.

Trainer Lance Justice believes the horse is ideally suited to the race and if he can succeed, it will be Smoken Up’s first victory in a major Australasian harness race.

Either way, Justice is confident that with the event held at Menagle Park, the Miracle Mile may become the fastest race in Australian history.

Three-time Inter Dominion winner Blacks A Fake and New Zealand Cup champion Monkey King have also confirmed their place in the mile event however up until today Mark Purdon was unsure as to whether he would let Auckland Reactor contest in the event.

Champion driver Tony Herlihy confirmed the horse’s place in the Miracle Mile after revealing that he would take over from Purdon as driver to allow the trainer more time to focus on the $4 million horse’s training.

Herlihy has driven the horse once for his only victory in Australia however the successful New Zealand driver has won the Miracle Mile three times already with Christopher Vance (1991) and Chokin (1993,94).

Confirming their attendance at the event only today was the Kiwi Ingenuity team and trainer/driver Robbie Holmes is ecstatic about the mare’s prospects in the Miracle Mile.

As the fastest mare in Australasia, Kiwi Ingenuity stands a great chance during the race if she draws well in her first Miracle Mile.

Despite a torrid seventh place behind Monkey King in the New Zealand Cup, the fastest mare in the southern hemisphere proved her ability as a miler in last year’s 4 year old Diamond on Harness Jewels Day in New Zealand.

The mare ran a 1:52.1 mile over 1609m, a time which put her up there with Smoken Up.

While the New Zealand hopefuls will travel from Christchurch to Sydney on Thursday 26 November, the final places for the Miracle Mile will be decided after the running of Friday night’s Cordina Chicken Sprint at Harold Park.

Although trainer Brendon Hill is thrilled at the prospect of competing at Australasia’s best track, Menangle Park Raceway, he may have logistical problems getting the seven year old to Sydney.

Monkey King is scheduled to race in Friday night’s New Zealand Free-For-All which poses a problem if the horse is then expected to be prepped and ready for the Miracle Mile on November 29, particularly with the stable having plenty of commitments coming up in the next few weeks.

Perfectly suited to the eight horse field in the Sydney race, Monkey King has proven that he is capable of running a quick mile after his second place to Auckland Reactor in the Waikato Flying Mile.

In his personal best, the runner up ran the 1609m distance in 1 minute 53.5 seconds which raised debates as to whether he is more suited as a stayer or a sprinter.

NSW Harness Racing Club Directors will sit Friday night to assess the credentials of all the runners for the Miracle Mile and will be paying particular attention to third placegetter in the NZ Cup Smoken Up.

Brendon Hill will speak with the NSWHRC after Friday’s race and again on Saturday to determine whether he can afford to make the trip with Monkey King for the SEW Eurodrive Miracle Mile.

The seven year old gelding made a big late finish in the 3200m event by beating Bettor’s Strike by a neck with Smoken Up finishing third.

For driver Ricky May this was his fourth win in the Cup after finishing first with Inky Lord (1989), Iraklis (1997) and Mainland Banner (2005).

Since its inauguration in 1904, the NZ Cup has only been won more than three times by a few drivers and May could not hold back his tears as he crossed the finish line.

With a pay check of $538, 860 for his win, owner Robert Famularo was very relieved with the victory after Monkey King was narrowly beaten in the 2007 race and came last in the 2008 race after falling ill.

Towards the end of the race, the North Canterbury-trained champion was supported by the entire Christchurch crowd who were standing on their seats cheering the gelding on.

However the race was not without problems as the protest siren sounded when Bettor’s Strike was accused of interfering with second favourite Kiwi Ingenuity at the turn.

Australian pacers Smoken Up and Karloo Mick lead the race for the first half of the event before the local talents proved to be too good for the duo.