Delaware: Rienzi hangs on by a neck in Bud Delp Stakes

Rienzi simply refused to lose in Monday’s $50,000 Bud Delp Memorial Stakes for 3-year-olds at Delaware Park. Narrowly passed by first Keep the Canoli and then Where’s Dominic, Rienzi ($3.40) rallied determinedly along the rail under Kendrick Carmouche to prevail by a neck.

Stratocruiser, the longest shot in a field reduced to four by two scratches, finished second at 14-1 a half-length ahead of 8-5 second choice Where’s Dominic third, with Keep the Canoli fourth. Rienzi, who set early fractions of 47.80 seconds and 1:11.80, completed a mile and 70 yards on a fast track in 1:42.38.

It was the third win in six career starts for Rienzi, a son of Majestic Warrior trained by John Servis for Rick Porter’s Fox Hill Farms. Most recently, Rienzi set the pace and faded to third making his stakes debut in the Federico Tesio at Pimlico on April 27.