Anak Nakal, conditioned by Zito but winless in six starts this season, rallied from far behind to catch the Dutrow-trained Acai near the wire to prevail by a neck in yesterday's 29th running of the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby at Philadelphia Park.

Smooth Air, the 4-1 slight favorite in the wide-open field of 13, finished third, followed by Stones River and Atoned.

Joe Bravo was aboard Anak Nakal and was riding the Pennsylvania Derby winner for a third time, having scored aboard Meadow Flight in 1994 and Grand Hombre in 2003.

No other jockey has captured the Pennsylvania Derby more than once.

Zito, who was not present yesterday, saddled Da'Tara in June in his stunning 38-1 upset in the Belmont Stakes when Dutrow's Big Brown was pulled up in the stretch while seeking to become the 12th Triple Crown winner.

Anak Nakal, owned by Hassam Masir's Four Roses Thoroughbreds, was 11th in the early running of the Derby, began rallying on the final turn, and was up near the wire outside in the final strides to nail Acai and jockey Corey Nakatani.

The colt was clocked in 1 minute, 48.99 seconds for the 11/8 miles over a fast track.

Anak Nakal paid $34.60 to win and topped a $344.80 exacta with Acai, who was a part of the three-horse mutuel field coupling.

The trifecta paid $2,907.80, and the superfecta returned $13,345.40.

Long shots prevailed throughout the afternoon, with no favorites winning on the 11-race program.

"Nick Zito always gets them ready for the big races," said Bravo, who was a leading jockey at Philadelphia Park in the 1980s.

Bravo had ridden Anak Nakal in a race once before but finished a distant seventh aboard the colt in the Rebel at Oaklawn Park in March.

"I had been on him during the winter at Palm Meadows [training center in Florida], and he had a lot of talent. But he wanted to play around and was worried about what's going on around him," Bravo said, noting the colt was obviously now more mature.

Three disappointments in the Derby were Ready Set, who finished 11th, You and I Forever, who checked in eighth, and California invader Two Step Salsa, who dead-heated for sixth.

Two Step Salsa, fractious in the gate before the start, led briefly on the final turn, then faded.

Turf Monster Handicap. Locally owned and trained True to Tradition took control early and sped to a four-length victory in the $250,000 turf stake on the Derby undercard.

Giving jockey Kendrick Carmouche the biggest victory of his career, True to Tradition paid $12.60 while completing the five furlongs in 56 seconds.

True to Tradition is owned by Ben Mondello and Adam Russo and trained by Scott Lake.