School days...schools play

FRIDAY'S EDITION OF CARDINAL COUPLE:

-Key high school match ups this weekend

-UofL women's soccer tonight

-Three Sissies goes today at Ellis Park

The chant on the Assumption High School campus must sound something like "We're number two...no check that...we're number three." as the Rockets have been ranked the #2 volleyball team in the nation..but #3 in Kentucky. Talk about a tough local crowd...Assumption sits behind St. Louis St. Joseph in Volleyball Prep's top 100 rankings and the Kentucky Volleyball Coaches Association has the Bardstown Road school behind Mercy and Sacred Heart here in the commonwealth. For what its worth, Volleyball Prep has Sacred Heart at #40 nationally and Mercy checks in at #74 in the nation.

Assumption returns four all state performers from last year's team and five Rocket volleyball players are already committed to colleges...including Jeni Houser (Notre Dame) and Jackie Napper (Kentucky)

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The APPLE TOURNAMENT field hockey final will match up Sacred Heart vs. Kentucky Country Day. Sacred Heart breezed thru their semifinal game against Male 9-0 and KCD topped Ballard 4-2. In consolation game action, Mercy downed Eastern 3-1 and Assumption rolled past Presentation 5-0.

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Lest we get too caught up in local area high school sports, let's not forget that the UofL women's soccer team will be in action Friday night against Eastern Kentucky University. The Cards are looking to rebound from last year's disappointing season and head coach Karen Ferguson Dayes has recruited well and has some very good and experienced players returning. they teams will kick it around at Cardinal Park at 7 p.m.

Field hockey has an exhibition game tomorrow against Kent State at 1 p.m. at Trager Field. Admission to both events is free.

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Finally, a bit of horse racing...THREE SISSIES goes in the second race at Ellis Park today. She'll face 11 competitors in a $10,500 maiden claiming race for 3 year old and up fillies and mares over 6 1/2 furlongs. She's been working lights out for trainer Jeffery Sheets and will have the services of rider Sal Gonzales. She's morning line listed at 8-1 odds...but if she breaks out of the gate like she's been working...she could surprise at a price. Let's just hope no one claims her..a risk you take when you run 'em at the claiming level. We think she's got a great shot at breaking her maiden today and winning. And, she's no sissy...either.

Santa Anita Race Track is replacing their synthetic surface and going back to dirt for the winter-spring meet that starts in December. Trainer complaints about the Pro-Ride surface and the hard time it has draining water sparked the move.

The safety concerns are a matter of huge debate among California trainers and owners. Jockeys have their opinions also about the surface. We asked local Churchill Downs rider Vic Arterdia..who has worked horses at Santa Anita and Del Mar to compare surfaces and he gave us a beauty...

"The artificial stuff is like driving on gravel. That stuff can sting when it comes flying back at you. It's like someone throwing pebbles at you when your going 30 miles an hour...and sometimes it will clog up a horse's nostrils and he has trouble breathing by the end of a race. With dirt, it doesn't sting as much but you get sloppy conditions sometimes that make you change goggles many times during the race. I like the dirt surface. That's why I'm here in Kentucky."

Cardinal Volleyball picked 2nd in BIG EAST

FRIDAY'S CARDINAL COUPLE LOOKS AT:

Louisville Volleyball: A repeat happening?
Local high school sports: A busy weekend!
A fly in UConn's ointment?
A brief word with someone "in the know"

(Just a reminder...today is Friday the 13th. If you are a believer in trypanophobia...take care out there today.)

Leonard Yelin's University of Louisville women's volleyball team won the BIG EAST tournament last year and went to the NCAA Tournament. That success made an impression on the league coaches...as the Cards are picked to finish second behind Cincinnati in the preseason coaches poll.

The Bearcats received all but one vote to finish first...and since coaches couldn't vote for their own team...it looks like the Bearcats are the prohibitive favorite for the conference title. Louisville garnered second place honors...followed by Notre Dame and Marquette.

Cards' sophomore outside hitter Lola Arslanbekova was selected for the preseason All BIG EAST
team unanimously.

Louisville defeated the Bearcats in the BIG EAST tournament last year here in Louisville.

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A busy weekend for high school girls sports here in Louisville. The Shively Sporting Goods/Chase Marketing Jefferson County Public Schools Volleyball Championships will be held Friday and Saturday at the Basketball Academy. 19 area high schools will participate...including four top 25 teams...#11 DuPont Manual, #14 Eastern, #15 Butler and #24 Male.

Manual has won the event the last three years. It might be considered a rebuilding year for them since they lost three top seniors to graduation. Expected to lead the Crimson are senior Mechael Guess and sophomore Maya McClendon.

In the preseason poll, Louisville Catholic schools hold the top three ranking...#1 Mercy, #2 Sacred Heart and #3 Assumption.

The Apple Tournament for high school girls field hockey kicks off Saturday. All action will take place at Sacred Heart. The home standing Valkyries have won the Apple six years in a row.
Also participating is Assumption...last year's state champions. Mercy, Eastern, Butler, Collegiate, Presentation, Manual, KCD, Holy Cross, Christian Academy and Male round out the field of 12.

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News out of Connecticut that starting UConn womens' basketball guard Caroline Doty is out for the season with a torn ACL in her left knee. The junior is scheduled for surgery in the next week or so. UConn has won their last 78 games...but with Tina Charles graduated and Doty on the shelf...the Huskies suddenly look vulnerable. How much game have you got, Maya Moore?

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Our "person in the know" down at Ellis Park tells us that MYHEART'SRESERVED is a lock in the first race today at the Henderson, KY track. We love hearing good news about our favorite trainer Paul McGee's horses...and lights out apprentice jockey Orlandi Rossi is on board for the ride. We're also hearing great things about TWILIGHT BOY in the 2nd race at Ellis. Daily Double, anyone?

The track with the soybeans in the infield continues to hang in there, despite racing only three days a week. Ellis manages to offer high purses for claiming, maiden special weight and allowance races despite not having the financial windfall of casino money. Track owner Ron Geary continues to defy the trends and odds by making Ellis a viable summer racing option for horses and trainers who ran at Churchill's Spring Meet.

Congratulations go out to our buddies Richard and Patricia Lenihan, part owners of SEA ROAD. The 3 year old filly beat the competition Saturday at Saratoga in the $70,000 Hattie Moseley States...and paid a sweet $25.00 to win as a 12-1 longshot. Rich and Patty were in attendance for the race and both looked good in the winner's circle for the presentation. Seeing Rich in a three piece black suit seemed a little weird, though. I prefer to remember him in a t-shirt and shorts, struggling vainly to keep up with me in high school cross country. Rich is one of the good guys in horse racing...and a fervent supporter of saving racing-finished thoroughbreds from mistreatment and slaughter. Keep it up, buddy...and I bet I could still beat you on the two mile course at Seneca Park. (Walking...not running.)

For Greta...a post parade

(Excerpts of this piece were taken from Marty McGee's article on Greta Kuntzweiler
in the June 26, 2010 DAILY RACING FORM)

Greta Kuntzweiler will ride in three races at Ellis Park in Henderson, KY. on Friday. Four years ago, any bookmaker in the nation would have taken big odds that she would never break out of the starting gate again.

At her lowest ebb, Kuntzweiler couldn't believe how badly it had turned. In jail, facing charges of making and dealing crystal meth and broke.

"Honesty, I had no perspective. I wanted to do right, but I wasn't willing to let things go."

Depression, personal problems, reeling from a drug addition and arrest 10 months earlier which was dismissed..thanks to some capable lawmaking...Kuntzweiler had hit the bottom. What had taken the finalist for the Eclipse Award in 2000 to a convicted felon awaiting sentence?

Greta believes it goes back to the 2004 Breeders Cup at Lone Star Park in Texas. A horse she had won on earlier in the year finished a dismal last place...beaten by over 30 lengths. A dinner later that night with her parents brought more bad news. They were divorcing after 35 years of marriage.

Her mother, Ann Kuntzweiler broke the news.

"I wanted to wait until after the race to tell her so as not to distract her from what she had to do. It was crushing. That was a very hard weekend for all of us."

Her parents were her rock. When they split it devastated her.

"I didn't know how to deal with it."

The path that led Greta to crystal meth might well have started with pain pills. She suffered three notable injuries in her career: a broken ankle in 2000, a fractured vertebra in 2002 and a badly separated shoulder in 2003. The final injury was devastating in more than one way. Greta was riding at Ellis Park and a horse she was on was behind another horse clipped heels and fell. Greta's horse went down also. Remi Gumm, the jockey in front of her, suffered a severe spinal cord injury and is paralyzed for life from the chest down.

"I never got to say anything to her about being sorry." Kuntzweiler said. "I never reached out to her. I never resolved it and I feel guilty about it." Gumm, who is a mother of four, lives in Ocala, FL. now.

The guilt and the injury led to abuse of the pain pills prescribed for her. It also changed the way she rode after recovering from the injury. A little less daring. Maybe too quick a return to the track.

Kuntzweiler went to Arkansas and Chicago to ride after the Ellis Park meet but the assignments
started to drop off and the wins were few and far between. She was getting the 20-1 shots, the "no chance" horses and it furthered her depression. About that time, she also began seeing a boyfriend , an exercise rider and man with several drug convictions. Pain pills turned into cooking and distributing meth.

"I was in the back yard...raking leaves when they raided the house we we renting. They got him first, I had no idea...then they came outside and got me."

The road back has been frustrating for Greta but she works hard every day to rebuild her life. She just wants to prove she is worthy of being granted another chance. She knows she has hurt herself and others. Squandered the gifts few ever receive. No more excuses. She knows she will always be a recovering addict who can never succumb to temptation again.

Little steps. A new boyfriend, clean and supportive. A sponsor and regular meetings in a 12 step recovery program. Getting back into the saddle working horses in the morning, hoping for afternoon race rides and evenings filled with practicing martial arts and working with a personal trainer. She feels stronger at 34 than she did at 24. Several mounts at Churchill Downs when she was granted her racing license renewal. A new agent, dedicated to getting her rides.

Greta Kuntzweiler will ride today at Ellis Park. A 30-1 shot in the first race, a 20-1 shot in the second race and a 15-1 in the eighth race.

Small odds when you consider the odds she beat just getting back in the saddle.