{"id":287449,"date":"2026-09-16T17:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T17:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/287449\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T17:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T17:10:09","slug":"americas-best-racings-trifecta-picks-for-the-2026-pennsylvania-derby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/287449\/","title":{"rendered":"America\u2019s Best Racing\u2019s Trifecta Picks for the 2026 Pennsylvania Derby"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saturday\u2019s Pennsylvania Derby<\/a> at Parx Racing<\/a> drew a deep 11-horse field vying for the winner\u2019s share from a $1 million purse in the last Grade 1 dirt route race restricted to 3-year-olds. The Pennsylvania Derby\u00a0and $1 million\u00a0Cotillion Stakes<\/a> for 3-year-old fillies will be shown live on\u00a0FanDuel TV<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read on for Pennsylvania Derby trifecta betting strategies from the team at America\u2019s Best Racing, check our our handy Cheat Sheet for the race<\/a>, and use ABR\u2019s handy Gambling Calculator<\/a> to structure your bets.<\/p>\n

Mike Curry:<\/p>\n

I went into the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve<\/a> thinking this might be an elite group of 3-year-olds, but now \u2026 not so much. Many of the runners that came out of the key Derby preps regressed, so I\u2019m looking beyond the Triple Crown preps and races for the Pennsylvania Derby. I landed on improving West Virginia Derby<\/a> winner #1 Zihnal<\/a> and Indiana Derby<\/a> runner-up #3 Our Moneyman<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

My other tactic will be to toss probable favorite #7 Further Ado<\/a>. If he wins so be it, he\u2019ll beat me. But he seems to be an all-or-nothing type, so if I\u2019m not picking him to win, he\u2019s going to be off my tickets.<\/p>\n

Under Zihnal and Our Moneyman, I\u2019ll use Preakness runner-up #2 Iron Honor<\/a>; #6 The Puma<\/a> in his third start off the layoff; improving recent allowance winner #9 Sassmaster<\/a>; and probable pacesetter #11 Ponder and Dream<\/a>, from the always-dangerous barn of trainer Butch Reid<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mike Curry\u2019s Pennsylvania Derby trifecta ($20 budget):<\/p>\n

$1 trifecta: 1,3 with 1,2,3,6,9,10 with 1,2,3,6,9,10 ($20)<\/p>\n

Noel Michaels:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s out with the old and in with the new in this year\u2019s Pennsylvania Derby, where it will be worth betting against the two probable favorites #6 The Puma<\/a> and #7 Further Ado<\/a>, in the top spots. The Puma has disappointed in his summer campaign with fourth-place finishes in both the NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes<\/a> and DraftKings Travers Stakes<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n

For me, the horse to beat will be #2 Iron Honor<\/a> for trainer Chad Brown<\/a> with Jose Ortiz<\/a> aboard. He has been pointing to this spot since his third-place finish in the Haskell back in July. The Grade 3 Gotham Stakes<\/a> winner finished second in the 1 3\/16-mile Preakness Stakes<\/a> 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<\/a> exits a 6 \u00bc-length win in the West Virginia Derby. #3 Our Moneyman<\/a> ran second by a neck in the Grade 3 Indiana Derby behind next-out Travers winner Leading Change<\/a>. #4 Igniter<\/a> comes out of a four-length win in the $386,000 Ellis Park Derby. #5 Talk to Me Jimmy<\/a> 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<\/a> goes out for trainer Todd Pletcher and has back-to-back wins at Churchill Downs<\/a> and Saratoga, and #10 Micanopy<\/a> won Parx\u2019s local prep in the $200,000 Smarty Jones Stakes. Let\u2019s use all of them in the middle slot in the trifecta.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s build trifecta tickets by keying #2 Iron Honor<\/a> to win and then count on one horse between #1 Zihnal<\/a>, #3 Our Moneyman<\/a>, #4 Igniter<\/a>, #5 Talk to Me Jimmy<\/a>, #9 Sassmaster<\/a>, and #10 Micanopy<\/a> to step up and run second. Then we\u2019ll put #6 The Puma<\/a> and #7 Further Ado<\/a> in the third spot so that the best of that duo can round out our trifectas.<\/p>\n

Noel Michael\u2019s Pennsylvania Derby trifecta: ($60 budget):<\/p>\n

$5 trifecta, 2 over 1,3,4,5,9,10 over 6,7 ($60)<\/p>\n

Patrick Reed:<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll structure my trifecta bets around #1 Zihnal<\/a>, who comes in off of a blowout win in the West Virginia Derby last month at the Pennsylvania Derby\u2019s 1 1\/8-mile distance. He didn\u2019t 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<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll key Zihnal atop a $1 trifecta with these five horses underneath in second and third: #2 Iron Honor<\/a>, #3 Our Moneyman<\/a>, #5 Talk to Me Jimmy<\/a>, #6 The Puma<\/a>, and #7 Further Ado<\/a>. Then, I\u2019ll put Zihnal second in a 50-cent trifecta bet with those runners for a total spend of $30.<\/p>\n

Patrick Reed\u2019s Pennsylvania Derby trifecta ($30 budget):<\/p>\n

$1 trifecta: 1 with 2,3,5,6,7 with 2,3,5,6,7 ($20)<\/p>\n

50-cent trifecta: 2,3,5,6,7 with 1 with 2,3,5,6,7 ($10)<\/p>\n

Dan Tordjman:<\/p>\n

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<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n

The other horse I like in the race is #3 Our Moneyman<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n

As a wildcard, give me #9 Sassmaster<\/a>. 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:<\/p>\n

Dan Tordjman\u2019s Pennsylvania Derby trifecta ($48 budget):<\/p>\n

$2 trifecta box: 3,6,9 ($12)<\/p>\n

$1 trifecta: 6 with 3,9 with ALL ($18)<\/p>\n

$.50 trifecta 3,6,9 with 3,6,9 with 1,2,3,5,6,7,9,10 ($18)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Saturday\u2019s Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing drew a deep 11-horse field vying for the winner\u2019s share from a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":287450,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-287449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/287450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}