Sushi Man moves into stakes company on Saturday night for the $50,000 Canterbury Park Derby and while he’s a “raw talent,” his diet does not include raw fish. “Exactly,” laughed trainer Coty Rosin. “It’s a fun name.” The Canterbury Derby shares a card with two other stakes, the $50,000 Brooks Fields Mile and the $50,000 Lady Canterbury. The races are part of a pick five that has a reduced takeout of 10 percent. The 50-cent bet runs on races 2-6. The card also includes two stakes-quality allowances, with all of the aforementioned races to be run on turf as part of the annual Northern Stars Turf Festival. Sushi Man is part of a seven-horse field for the one-mile Canterbury Derby. Smoken Boy won a Grade 1 in Puerto Rico and in May captured the $150,000 Caesars at Horseshoe Indianapolis. Homie is unbeaten in two starts, both on turf, and Canyon Streak is facing open company for the first time after two wins in Texas. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Sushi Man enters off a maiden special weight win at 7 1/2 furlongs on turf June 11 at Canterbury. He led throughout in the race for 3-year-olds and up. His time of 1:29.12 on firm ground is the meet’s fastest for the distance, according to a press release from Canterbury. “I like our chances,” Rosin said. “It’s nice to be able run out of your own stall. We think he’s getting better with each race. He likes to play around, but he’s got an immense amount of talent. I think there’s a lot more we haven’t got to yet. This is really just kind of raw talent that he’s shown. Once he puts it all together, he could be a nice horse.” Rosin said the Canterbury Derby is a good test for Sushi Man. “I think it’s a pretty evenly matched field,” he said. “I think it should be a good race, and I think we’ll be able to learn a lot more from him. He’s running against some legit horses, which is good. And, I think he’s a legit horse, too.” Sushi Man was making his fifth start in the maiden race, which was his first on turf. He rolled home by 7 1/4 lengths to earn a Beyer Speed figure of 73, the best last-race turf number in the Canterbury Derby. “We thought it was pretty impressive,” said Rosin, who trains Sushi Man for breeder One Bid Stable. “He really needed to kind of run like that in order to go into the stake, and we thought he might. He’s shown in the morning that he could potentially run a race like that and when he did, we thought it warranted a chance in the Canterbury Derby.” Sushi Man is a Minnesota-bred by Astern. Prior to the maiden win, he ran second in a maiden special weight May 18 at Prairie Meadows. “His pedigree obviously suggests turf,” Rosin said. “I was trying to break his maiden at Iowa so I didn’t have to do this quick turnaround with the stakes race and well, we ran into what is looking to be a nice horse in his own right, [Mickswagger]. He came back after beating us by a half-length and won a 3-year-old stakes at Iowa, [the Prairie Mile], a prep for the Iowa Derby. So, we definitely got beat by a very nice horse. “I don’t think [Sushi Man] will mind the turnaround. He never really seemed to take a real deep breath after the other race, but I guess you never know until you do it. We’re definitely looking forward to running.” Harry Hernandez, who was aboard for the maiden win, has the mount from post 7. “He’s kind of a long-striding horse,” Rosin said. “He seems to have a very high cruising speed, I would say he’ll be kind of close. I don’t necessarily think he needs the lead. “He is still a little bit green, still has a little bit of kid in him. And so there’s a lot that can definitely still be learned and I do think he’ll get better with each race. But I don’t think he’ll be too far off it.” Homie contested the pace in both of his starts and could show the way in what will be his first start since last September. R N R Audible, who breaks from the rail, is another who could show speed as he is stretching out from 5 1/2 furlongs. Canyon Streak has used stalking tactics in his wins, which have come on both dirt and turf. ◗ Cupids Crush worked a bullet five furlongs in 58.20 seconds June 15 in her final prep for the Lady Canterbury. She is stretching back out for the one-mile race for fillies and mares. Trainer Mac Robertson said he feels the multiple stakes winner is at her best at two turns on turf. ◗ Kennebec and Tonka Warrior, who finished one-two in a recent allowance at Canterbury, will be rematched in the Brooks Fields Mile. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.