Hollis's speed and class appear too much for his Rumson opponents

This is the sixth year of racing for 7-year-old Hollis, and during his long career the gelding has been nearly unbeatable running short.

In 11 dirt races of 5 1/2 furlongs or shorter, Hollis has compiled a record of 7-4-0. The two second-place finishes since John Ortiz began training him in May 2020 both were by inches, and one of those losses came down to trainer error.

“I didn’t tighten the girth enough and his saddle slipped,” said Ortiz.

Ortiz has slipped Hollis into another very winnable spot, the $100,000 Rumson Stakes on Sunday at Monmouth Park. This will mark the 12th track at which Hollis has plied his trade. Changing surfaces and environments has never phased Hollis, and the Rumson, carded for five furlongs on dirt, falls right in his wheelhouse.

It doesn’t hurt that the Kentucky-based Ortiz has been on a roll this summer: Over the last three months, Ortiz has won with 25 of his 94 starts, a 27-percent strike rate.

Hollis has accounted for two of the wins during the span, capturing a Churchill Downs five-furlong allowance race in July and skipping over the Mountaineer slop on Aug. 6 to win a 4 1/2-furlong stakes race by 2 1/2 lengths.

“He came out of that race in great shape,” Ortiz said. “Hollis is Hollis. He is what he is and does what he wants. He’s got such a big personality. We call him ‘The Scrapper,’ ‘The Boxer.’ He likes to go out there and get into a fight. That’s what gets him these wins.”

Ortiz has given the mount to David Cabrera, who has ridden at Monmouth only once in his career. But Cabrera has won on Hollis before, and Ortiz wants a jockey who knows the horse.

“He’s funny to ride,” Ortiz said. “You listen to him, you don’t make him listen to you.”

Hollis has post 1 in a seven-horse field, with Spun and Won and Feast the possible key challengers – if any exist. Trophy Chaser and Hollywood Jet are proven stakes horses, but are not coming to the Rumson in good form.

Spun and Won was third in a recent Laurel Park allowance race, but won well two races ago going 5 1/2 furlongs at Monmouth. Third in that race was Feast, who came back to win two in a row and was claimed out of his most recent start by trainer Gerald Bennett.

But the long and the short of it is no one here is beating Hollis if the gelding comes close to running his race.