Belmont Stakes Winner Headlines $1M Pennsylvania Derby

Rob Gregorka

Las Vegas, NV -- Belmont Stakes winner Ruler On Ice is the 5-2 morning line favorite in horse betting odds for Saturday's $1 million Pennsylvania Derby. He leads a field of nine for the big race at Parx Racing which has an estimated post time of 5:45 p.m. Eastern on Saturday.

Ruler On Ice
Ruler On Ice will try to become the first Belmont Stakes winner to win the Pennsylvania Derby since Summing won both races in 1981. The Kelly Breen-trained horse will get Garrett Gomez who is coming in from California to ride the horse in place of Jose Valdivia Jr. Ruler On Ice won the Belmont Stakes earlier this year and is coming off a third place finish in the Haskell and a fourth place finish in the Travers Stakes. The forecast for Saturday in Philadelphia is for rain; if the track is sloppy it would be a huge advantage for Ruler On Ice who has won twice on sloppy tracks this year. Ruler On Ice has three wins in nine career starts.

Bet on the $1M Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing with OTB

To Honor and Serve
The second choice on the morning line at 3-1 is To Honor and Serve, who is coming off a nice win in a claiming race at Saratoga Race Track. This is a big step up in competition for the horse but he may be good enough to pull off the win as earlier in the year he was third in both the Florida Derby and the Fountain of Youth before suffering an injury that kept him out of the Triple Crown races. The horse has four wins in eight career starts. He will be ridden by Jose Lezcano as regular rider John Velazquez chose to ride Rattlesnake Bridge.

Pender Harbour
Canadian invader Pender Harbour could be in the mix as he won two legs of Canada's Triple Crown. He was third in the Queen's Plate Stakes before winning the Prince of Wales Stakes and the Breeders' Stakes. Woodbine Racetrack jockey Luis Contreras is making the trip to ride Pender Harbour. The horse is listed at 12-1 in off-track betting odds.

Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing racetrack:

Post

Horse

Jockey

ML Odds

1

Ruler On Ice

Garrett Gomez

5-2

2

Arthur's Tale

Alan Garcia

12-1

3

Pender Harbour

Luis Contreras

12-1

4

Norman Asbjornson

Julian Pimentel

12-1

5

Rush Now

Cornelio Velasquez

9-2

6

Isn't He Perfect

TBA

20-1

7

To Honor and Serve

Jose Lezcano

3-1

8

J W Blue

TBA

8-1

9

Rattlesnake Bridge

John Velazquez

4-1