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Askbut I Won'ttell flies home in Cardinal Team Block and Rich Ege's ASKBUT I WON'TTELL (Horse Chestnut [SAf]) turned in the best performance of her career Sunday with a mild upset of the $113,900 Cardinal H. (G3) at Churchill Downs. Tracking in fourth for the opening mile of the nine-furlong turf event, Askbut I Won'ttell was angled outside by Shaun Bridgmohan for her stretch bid and drove home a convincing 1 1/4-length winner over 9-5 favorite Kiss Mine (Mineshaft). The final time on the firm turf was 1:50 2/5. "I had a good trip. I sat right behind the speed horses," Bridgmohan said. "At the top of the stretch I just needed to find her somewhere to go and once I swung her out and asked her for it, she gave it to me and finished. She's a filly that comes from a little further back. Mr. (Chris) Block (trainer) told me to ask her early to make sure she wasn't too far back and I think he dissected the race pretty good and all I had to do was execute it." Kiss Mine, who traded leads with War Tigress (War Chant) through modest splits of :25, :49 4/5, 1:14 2/5 and 1:38 2/5, gamely held off 4-1 chance My Baby Baby (Bernstein) by a neck for the place, with Princess Haya (Street Cry [Ire]) 2 1/4 lengths behind in fourth. War Tigress, Paracaidas (War Chant) and Romin Robin (Pure Precision) completed the field. Askbut I Won'ttell returned $14.80, $6.20 and $3.80. Kiss Mine paid $3.40 and $2.80, and My Baby Baby gave back $3.20. The exacta was $47.40, the trifecta $180, and the 3-5-7-4 superfecta came back $633.60. Bred in Florida by Hidden Point Farm and Hal Queen Farm, Askbut I Won'ttell sold for $14,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Eastern Fall Yearling Sale in Maryland. She's trained by Chris Block. The Cardinal was the first grass stakes win for the four-year-old chestnut, who previously won the off-the-turf Illinois Owners S. for fillies and mares at Arlington Park on May 15. Second by a neck in the Belle Mahone S. over the Woodbine Polytrack two starts back, she also owns a third in the Pago Hop S. over the Fair Grounds turf. Askbut I Won'ttell had struggled in three prior graded engagements, running fifth in both the Arlington Matron S. (G3) and Modesty H. (G3), and trailing a field of 10 in last month's Spinster S. (G1). Her record now stands at 15-5-3-2, $264,902. "We wanted to bring her back to the turf and she showed us today that is where she really belonged," co-owner David Block explained. "We are excited about this victory and getting a graded stakes win out of this mare. We will take her to Florida and take a look at Sunshine Millions Day being she is a Florida-bred." A half-sister to the stakes-placed Cal's Baby (Smart Strike) and Cherokee Dancer (Cherokee Run), Askbut I Won'ttell also has an unraced juvenile half-brother named Zarbo (Burning Roma). The foursome are out of Silver Dollar Kate (Green Dancer), herself a half-sister the multiple Grade 3-winning producer Summer Secretary (Secretariat). Askbut I Won'ttell's third dam is the noted Rokeby Stable filly Summer Guest (Native Charger), who captured such notable events as the Spinster S. (G1), Alabama S. and Coaching Club American Oaks. This is also the family of Grade 1 winner Key Contender (Fit to Fight).
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