Hoosier girls get revenge...Allen County-Scottsville the State Champs...The Belmont Stakes provides upsets

SUNDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

-Indiana all-stars defeat Kentucky 69-56

-Allen County-Scottsville wins softball title over Ballard

-The Belmont Stakes: Big upsets in the slop

Bria Goss was back in her element. Saturday Night in Conseco Fieldouse, the Kentucky signee tossed in 25 points to lead the Hoosier over Kentucky. Despite shooting just 25% from the field, Indiana used a 34-7 advantage from the free throw line to take the win.

"She was much more under control tonight." Indiana coach David Miller commented after the game. "She's got that explosiveness and did get to the rim successfully and drew a lot of fouls. Goss had six rebounds in the win also.

One of the key components in the Indiana win was shutting down Kentucky Miss Basketball Sara Hammond on Saturday night. After a 21 point, 14 rebound performance Friday against Indiana...Hammond tallied just four points Saturday and was plagued by early foul trouble.

"Indiana really double-teamed Sara a lot more tonight." Kentucky coach Chris Stalling related. "They were more aggressive, especially Goss. She played with a sense of urgency."

Indiana never trailed in the game and got 12 points and seven rebounds from Kalia Hulls and 12 points and six boards from Akyah Taylor. Carla Booth led Kentucky with 12 points. Chastity Gooch finished with eight points.

"You can always bring your defense every single game and we all know that." Goss said after the contest. 

Call me crazy...but a 34-7 disparity in fouls, in an all-star game, with Indiana referees seems to be the biggest factor in Saturday night's showdown. The Hoosier did not make a basket in the final five minutes of the game, scoring all their points from the free throw line.

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Quite a difference from Friday for the Indiana Girls team, when their bus broke down en route to Louisville and they had to complete the ride to Bellarmine University on the same bus with the boys' team - on a bus with no air conditioning. 

Have to wonder why the Louisville version of this annual contest remains at Bellarmine when the KFC YUM! Center or Freedom Hall are potential places to play. The Hoosiers let them go at it in Conseco Fieldhouse. They drew 5600 for the games on Saturday. Only been there a couple of times but I don't think Bellarmine's gym can seat that many. 


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Allen County-Scottsville won their first Kentucky State Girls Softball title Saturday in Owensboro...defeating Louisville Ballard in the championship game 3-2. The Patriots had defeated Ballard 9-4 Saturday morning to send them to the consolation bracket. Ballard, though, beat Calloway County 10-0 to set up the rematch.

Big pitching performance by Kelsi Pardue in the final game...fanning eight Bruin batters and giving up only three hits. Allen County-Scottsville led 3-0 after three innings but Ballard got two back in the top of the fifth when Meghan McCauley scored on a fielding error and Jordan Wise singled in Jessica Adell. The Bruins couldn't tie it, though and Pardue retired the Ballard batters "three up and three down" in the sixth and seventh.

Kayla Fairley went the distance for Ballard...allowing six hits. Ballard finished the season at 39-6 and Allen County-Scottsville at 41-4-1.

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Sloppy conditions at Belmont Race Track provided a huge upset in the Belmont Stakes...as Jose Valdivia guided 25-1 longshot RULER ON ICE to a narrow win over fellow longshot STAY THIRSTY. Favorite ANIMAL KINGDOM was well back in the pack, after a collision at the start of the race that nearly tossed jockey John Velazquez off the horse.

As they turned for the stretch, SHACKLEFORD appeared to be the one to beat, but Jesus Castanon n board the 3 yr. old could not maintain the pace and faded to fifth. BRILLIANT SPEED gained enough to take third, finishing ahead of late closer NEHRO.

The exacta paid $928 on a two dollar wager. I checked Paul and Sonja's comments from earlier this week. They wouldn't have had it. I'm guessing not many did at that price.

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Since yesterday was a pretty big horseracing day and Paul has told me in the past that horseracing is a popular item amongst the Cardinal Couple readers - here is a story about a trainer. We get this from CARDINAL COUPLE reader and respected handicapper Tom, who reports that his Belmont Stakes Day attempts at wagering came from Churchill Downs. He did well at the Louisville local track races but not so well in selections at Belmont. Here is Tom's commentary:

There is a horse trainer out there that I'm going to offer comment about. This trainer was an assistant trainer in a well respected and successful barn and recognized as a valuable asset to this barn. Another group of horse owners decided to go after this trainer when their head trainer left to accept a postition for another barn. This trainer accepted, and had a pretty successful first year working for the new barn. His second year was incredible, he was the second best trainer around and, although no match for the best trainer, finished a lot higher in results than quite a few other well known trainers. He became the darling, the golden boy of the industry. His third year of training turned into a disappointment, though. He lost a couple of his best runners and injuries to a few other in his stable led to a racing season to forget. The trainer regrouped, though, and brought in some other horses that helped him regain a high status, great results and some major upsets over that fourth season as head trainer. He continues to work hard and as he competes in his fifth season as trainer...has acquired some excellent new horses to add to an already strong stable.

The trainer has always been outspoken. He has the best training facilities available, a strong group of racing fans who love to follow his runners and the respect of other trainers in the industry. Sometimes, his remarks hurt and damage, though. The trainer needs to realize that no trainer, no horse, and no barn is bigger than the industry. In lieu of recent events that have surfaced about the trainer and some very uncalled for reactionary responses from the trainer - actions that the vast majority of the sports have no knowledge of - we hope the trainer isn't headed toward a direction that will affect his popularity with the fans of the industry, his ability to train his stable and that stable's results. Humility and performance outshine sensationalism and innuendo every time. I hope this trainer will remember this. He can be so good and get so much out of what he has. The industry needs young trainers that are good at what they do and handle their successes (and failures) with professionalism. That is how legendary trainers are created. That is how the industry benefits and grows.

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Have a great Sunday everyone! Paul and Sonja will be back with you on Monday.

-David Watson