Saturday’s Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing drew a deep 11-horse field vying for the winner’s share from a $1 million purse in the last Grade 1 dirt route race restricted to 3-year-olds. The Pennsylvania Derby and $1 million Cotillion Stakes for 3-year-old fillies will be shown live on FanDuel TV.

Read on for Pennsylvania Derby trifecta betting strategies from the team at America’s Best Racing, check our our handy Cheat Sheet for the race, and use ABR’s handy Gambling Calculator to structure your bets.

Mike Curry:

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I went into the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve thinking this might be an elite group of 3-year-olds, but now … not so much. Many of the runners that came out of the key Derby preps regressed, so I’m looking beyond the Triple Crown preps and races for the Pennsylvania Derby. I landed on improving West Virginia Derby winner #1 Zihnal and Indiana Derby runner-up #3 Our Moneyman on top. I like the way the well-bred Zihnal has progressed this year while Our Moneyman has been an improved colt since stretching out in distance.

My other tactic will be to toss probable favorite #7 Further Ado. If he wins so be it, he’ll beat me. But he seems to be an all-or-nothing type, so if I’m not picking him to win, he’s going to be off my tickets.

Under Zihnal and Our Moneyman, I’ll use Preakness runner-up #2 Iron Honor; #6 The Puma in his third start off the layoff; improving recent allowance winner #9 Sassmaster; and probable pacesetter #11 Ponder and Dream, from the always-dangerous barn of trainer Butch Reid.

Mike Curry’s Pennsylvania Derby trifecta ($20 budget):

$1 trifecta: 1,3 with 1,2,3,6,9,10 with 1,2,3,6,9,10 ($20)

Noel Michaels:

It’s out with the old and in with the new in this year’s Pennsylvania Derby, where it will be worth betting against the two probable favorites #6 The Puma and #7 Further Ado, in the top spots. The Puma has disappointed in his summer campaign with fourth-place finishes in both the NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes and DraftKings Travers Stakes. Likewise, Further Ado also disappointed with a fifth-place finish in the Haskell, and neither he nor The Puma really showed anything in that race to make them worthy of more than a minor placing in the back end of trifectas.

Pennsylvania Derby entrant Iron Honor (Jim McCue/Maryland Jockey Club)

For me, the horse to beat will be #2 Iron Honor for trainer Chad Brown with Jose Ortiz aboard. He has been pointing to this spot since his third-place finish in the Haskell back in July. The Grade 3 Gotham Stakes winner finished second in the 1 3/16-mile Preakness Stakes to show he could handle a distance, and he has more tactical speed than many of his Pennsylvania Derby opponents, especially with blinkers added on Saturday. For a horse from top connections with solid credentials to this point, he seems highly underrated at 5-1 odds on the morning line. Several live up-and-coming horses will go off at good odds in this race, and any or all of them can be used underneath Iron Honor and over The Puma and Further Ado in trifectas. #1 Zihnal exits a 6 ¼-length win in the West Virginia Derby. #3 Our Moneyman ran second by a neck in the Grade 3 Indiana Derby behind next-out Travers winner Leading Change. #4 Igniter comes out of a four-length win in the $386,000 Ellis Park Derby. #5 Talk to Me Jimmy won the 1 1/8-mile Withers Stakes earlier this year and finished second in the 1 1/8-mile Peter Pan Stakes. Lightly raced #9 Sassmaster goes out for trainer Todd Pletcher and has back-to-back wins at Churchill Downs and Saratoga, and #10 Micanopy won Parx’s local prep in the $200,000 Smarty Jones Stakes. Let’s use all of them in the middle slot in the trifecta.

Let’s build trifecta tickets by keying #2 Iron Honor to win and then count on one horse between #1 Zihnal, #3 Our Moneyman, #4 Igniter, #5 Talk to Me Jimmy, #9 Sassmaster, and #10 Micanopy to step up and run second. Then we’ll put #6 The Puma and #7 Further Ado in the third spot so that the best of that duo can round out our trifectas.

Noel Michael’s Pennsylvania Derby trifecta: ($60 budget):

$5 trifecta, 2 over 1,3,4,5,9,10 over 6,7 ($60)

Patrick Reed:

Pennsylvania Derby entrant Zihnal (Coady Media)

First of all, in my opinion, this is not a superior 3-year-old crop in 2026. Second of all, again in my opinion, the best of those 3-year-olds are not running in the Pennsylvania Derby. With that said, I think it’s time to take a stand and back a colt that seems to be on the upswing rather than wagering if #7 Further Ado or #6 The Puma can regain their early-season form.

I’ll structure my trifecta bets around #1 Zihnal, who comes in off of a blowout win in the West Virginia Derby last month at the Pennsylvania Derby’s 1 1/8-mile distance. He didn’t defeat much in that race and the final time was slow, but I like how he extended his margin in the stretch and especially the fact that Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez gets right back aboard in this spot. With a ground-saving, stalking trip not far off the early leaders, I think he can finish in the top two Saturday.

I’ll key Zihnal atop a $1 trifecta with these five horses underneath in second and third: #2 Iron Honor, #3 Our Moneyman, #5 Talk to Me Jimmy, #6 The Puma, and #7 Further Ado. Then, I’ll put Zihnal second in a 50-cent trifecta bet with those runners for a total spend of $30.

Patrick Reed’s Pennsylvania Derby trifecta ($30 budget):

$1 trifecta: 1 with 2,3,5,6,7 with 2,3,5,6,7 ($20)

50-cent trifecta: 2,3,5,6,7 with 1 with 2,3,5,6,7 ($10)

Dan Tordjman:

Pennsylvania Derby entrant The Puma (Anne M. Eberhardt/BloodHorse)

Throughout this summer of racing, we've been blessed with some awesome betting races. The Pennsylvania Derby is another one. I'm sticking with my guy #6 The Puma. He proved in the Travers Stakes that his flop in the Haskell wasn't a reflection of who he is as a horse. I think The Puma takes another step forward this Saturday. He'll also be closer to the pace (and have less work to do late) thanks to the addition of blinkers.

The other horse I like in the race is #3 Our Moneyman. He comes in fresh off three straight races of progressing form against tougher competition every time out. Most recently, he got nipped by Leading Change, who then turned around and won the Travers in his next start. Our Moneyman also picks up new jockey Manny Franco, who's been riding lights out the past few months.

As a wildcard, give me #9 Sassmaster. He was really impressive facing allowance company (a full rung beneath some of the graded stakes horses he'll face Saturday), so there's no telling how he'll continue to progress in this spot. But I'll take my chances at anything near the 10-1 morning line odds. Here's how I'm betting my trifectas:

Dan Tordjman’s Pennsylvania Derby trifecta ($48 budget):

$2 trifecta box: 3,6,9 ($12)

$1 trifecta: 6 with 3,9 with ALL ($18)

$.50 trifecta 3,6,9 with 3,6,9 with 1,2,3,5,6,7,9,10 ($18)