Sushi Man will be looking for his fourth consecutive win at the Canterbury Park meet on Saturday night when he faces older horses in the $50,000 Blair’s Cove.
“We’re trying to make it a perfect meet,” said trainer Coty Rosin. “We’re trying to get him a horse of the meet. Our owners are from Minnesota.”
The Blair’s Cove, which is for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/16 miles on turf, is part of the popular Minnesota Champions card at Canterbury. It includes six stakes for Thoroughbreds and three for Quarter Horses. The races are restricted to horses bred in Minnesota.
Sushi Man, who is part of a field of seven, has won a maiden special weight, the Canterbury Park Derby, and the Minnesota Derby in his three starts at the current meet. He is the lone 3-year-old in the Blair’s Cove.
“He’s really going to get tested by the olders, and I think he’s up for the challenge,” said Rosin. “You could see from this last weekend, Journalism versus Fierceness, it’s very hard for 3-year-olds to beat older horses. They don’t have as much seasoning as an older horse. An older horse is obviously a year more physically advanced and mentally prepared. They have double, triple the starts that he has, and we’ve only had seven starts. The next closest one is this race is like 14, so they have quite a bit more experience. What we’re giving up for experience, I think we make up for in talent. So we’re going to see which one prevails.”
Sushi Man will be moving back to turf after winning on dirt in the Minnesota Derby. His other starts at the meet have come on the grass.
“He definitely wants to be back on the turf, 100 percent,” said Rosin. “I think it will mean a lot for him to get back on the turf.”
Turf is the surface over which One Bid Stable and Rosin would ultimately like to keep Sushi Man, a son of Astern. The Blair’s Cove, which had its purse boosted from $30,000 to $50,000, could set up Sushi Man for a turf stakes against his own age group.
“He’s going to have to run the race of his life to win it, for sure,” Rosin said. “But it worked out to be good timing. I was thinking about not running and going straight for the Hawthorne Derby, but he’s doing really well and it’s good timing, a month from the last race and a month into the Hawthorne Derby.”
Eddie Gallardo has the mount from post 4.
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Sushi Man could sit off Frosty View, who is stretching back out around two turns off a runner-up finish in a turf-sprint allowance Aug. 7 at Canterbury. He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 100 over the local lawn for a sprint win in May. Frosty View also won at two turns in July.
“I think that Frosty is very, very versatile,” said trainer Joel Berndt. “He can go to the front, but there’s a horse that I respect dearly, Sushi Man. He’s very fast, got a beautiful stride on the turf, and I think that they have very similar running styles. It’s going to be a jockeys’ race the first quarter, half-mile.”
Harry Hernandez has the mount on Frosty View from post 3.
Minnesota Sprint
Berndt will send out an up-and-coming Street Warrior in the six-furlong, $50,000 Minnesota Sprint. The field includes defending winner Thealligatorhunter. Street Warrior was third in the race in 2024.
“I’m looking for big things,” Berndt said. “He tried it as a 3-year-old last year, yet he was still a lightly raced 3-year-old going up against a couple of warriors. This year, he’s matured into a better prepared horse, mentally and physically.”
Street Warrior will be turning back from a win over 1 1/16 miles in an Aug. 9 allowance at Canterbury. Prior to that race, he won a two-other-than allowance at six furlongs at Canterbury.
“I think his niche is six to seven furlongs,” Berndt said. “He’s a true sprinter.”
◗ Canterbury will also feature a pair of $75,000 stakes for 2-year-old sprinters on Saturday, the Northern Lights Futurity and the Northern Lights Debutante.
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