Opposition set for Strada

There will be nine other mares attempting to deny Loyal Opposition her second straight Thomas Strada Memorial title on Saturday night at the Meadowlands. She is rated 9-5 on the morning line in Saturday’s fifth race, the $75,000 Strada, leaving from post six (betting number five) with Andy Miller in the sulky.

"She seems good,” said her trainer, Erv Miller. “She won her last start off three weeks away. She's always been better after a layoff for me. When she gets some time off, they tend to let her alone out there. When she races every week, they come after her with everything they have."

Loyal Opposition, who captured last year’s second edition of the Strada, banked more than $670,000 in 2005 with wins in 14 of 20 starts. This year she has three wins and two seconds in five starts and has added $114,640 for a career total of $2.6 million for Daniel Waxman. Only Eternal Camnation and Bunny Lake are ahead of her on the money list for pacing mares.

"She's always stronger off the layoff,” agreed Andy Miller, who drives the mare for his brother. “Last week in particular, she came back great.”

Erv Miller, who was honored as Trainer of the Year in 2005, is having another banner season. "The harder you work, the more you seem to make,” he said. “You have to create your own luck. People have told me how lucky I am to have a mare like Loyal Opposition. But I like to look at it as an opportunity that was presented to me that I took advantage of, monopolized. You have to when the situation presents itself."

Miller’s barn is shy one other classy mare--Restive Hanover, who won the Cape & Cutter Final in February while in his care. She was recently purchased by the Mentally Stable and moved into the barn of trainer Ross Croghan.

"I have had her now for 10 days,” said Croghan last weekend. “She looks like she has had a tough winter of racing but all in all she is in pretty good shape. She has already raced half of her season, and it is only April. The way the schedule is this year, they are racing them until the end of November. We have to figure out which ones to put her in. We don't want to race her too many."

Thus far this year Restive Hanover has five wins and two seconds from 10 starts, banking $145,928. Croghan has turned her over to Ron Pierce to drive and is making some equipment adjustments.

"I took her blinkers off on a whim,” he said. “After a certain age they don't need them sometimes. We will see if that stays."

Restive Hanover, coupled in the wagering with Easton Alliance N, is rated 3-1 in the morning line, leaving from post four. "She is only four,” Croghan noted. “In my experience, their 5-year-old season is their best. It is really hard to beat the older mares at four. She has done it a few times so that is positive. She is very quiet [around the barn]. She is small and quiet and you really don't know she is there. She has a light [training] schedule right now. I want to feel my way and see what’s best for her."

Patty Ben Beau, who has been racing at Woodbine since mid-February, returns to the Meadowlands for the Strada, leaving post six [betting number seven] with George Brennan driving. She is rated 6-1 in the morning line.

“She's been racing good,” said Mark Harder, who trains the five-year-old for Andrew McLaughlin Jr. “She's so honest, nothing wrong with her at all. She's a mare that was not banged up at two and three and is better off for it, a lovely mare. If she gets a trip in here, she'll get a piece of it.

"She doesn't have the gate speed of some of the others in Canada,” said Harder. “That hurt her. She'll just keep coming at you. They'll be racing for good money here, so they'll be out and flowing. The Meadowlands style of racing, with movement in the middle half, actually suits her better than Canadian racing where they sprint more early and get a cheap quarter in there afterwards."

Patty Ben Beau has five wins, two seconds and one third from nine starts and earnings of $99,633 this year toward a career total of $227,721.

"I got her last year,” Harder added. “Murray Brethour freshens her up and readies her for the racing season and sent her to me."

The Strada Invitational honors the memory of Thomas Strada, a victim of terrorism. The event was organized by one of Thomas’ brothers, Michael, and more than 100 family and friends will attend this year’s third edition. Thomas Strada was killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center where he worked for Cantor Fitzgerald since 1995. He was a vice president on the corporate bond desk. His wife was a daughter of Hall of Famer George Sholty.--Meadowlands press release

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