from the Meadowlands Publicity Department

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – January 30, 2004 – My Fantasy [$24.60, $9.60, $6.60] held off the late charge of Worldly Beauty [$6.20, $5.60] for a head victory in the sixth race, a $40,000 mares open, on Friday night at the Meadowlands.

Lisa photo

My Fantasy (9) held off Worldly Beauty to win the $40,000 Mares Open.

Stormies Girl, the 4-5 favorite, had her winning streak snapped at seven and faded to sixth.

Her Own Art [$5.00] was third by one length. The mile was clocked in 1:55.3.

Stormies Girl, the Chicago invader driven by David Miller and trained by Darby Miller, had won five in-a-row in Chicago before shipping to the Meadowlands earlier this month and continued her winning ways until Friday night.

“I tried to be the last one to the lead, but it was a big wrestling match tonight with her,” said David Miller. “I’m not sure if I did anything. She was not as good as she was last week, not as handy. She was misbehaving.”

Jim Morrill Jr., on the other hand, was able to tuck My Fantasy into the two-hole behind Stormies Girl and benefit from the cover until he shook loose in the stretch.

“Things worked out good,” said Morrill. “She was strong to the half even though it was in 55.4. I let [Stormies Girl] go in front of me, and [she] took me where I wanted to go. It just worked out perfect.”

Two-time divisional champion Worldly Beauty, making her second start of the year, was sprinting strongly at the end and just missed.

“I thought she was really good night, very strong,” said Patrick Lachance, the trainer of Worldly Beauty, a $1.8 million earner. “Hopefully she’s back to her old self. She had a little problem with her feet last week, a little soreness. We worked on that and she responded well. She has the Cape & Cutter coming up.”

The winner, My Fantasy, is a four-year-old daughter of Dream Away, trained by Mark Silva and owned by the partnership of Cliff Siegel of Brooklyn, New York; Mathias Meinzinger of Central Islip, New York and Mark Silva of Little Ferry, New Jersey. She posted her second win in three starts this year and has career earnings of nearly $300,000.

The three-week Cape & Cutter Series for open mares begins on February 6 at the Meadowlands.