Is That A Fact — uses handicaps to become the chairman
Is That A Fact entered the Chairman’s Trophy feature on Saturday, February 24, 2024, weighing only 44.0 kgs (101 lb), trainer Jason DaCosta said that his American-bred runner had a very good chance of beating two of the country’s top runners, Atomica and Rough Entry.
In a run in which handicaps played a significant part in the Graded Stakes/Open Allowance contest for three-year-olds and upward over 7 ½ furlongs.
Is That a Fact defeated two-time Horse of the Year Atomica and last year’s Mouttet Mile winner
Rough Entry by 2 ¼ lengths to cement himself as one of the country’s top runners at present.
Owned by champion Carlton Watson, trained by champion Jason DaCosta, and ridden by the promising Jordan Barrett, Is That A Fact completed the assigned distance in a time of 1:32.1 (23.4 x 46.3 x 1:11.1).
“Is That A Fact had some issues last year that were niggling him. He got over that early this year. He trained really well coming into this race, and with the lightweight, I thought he had an excellent chance,” DaCosta said.
“You are running against the best horses, and so you cannot give away weight. Jordan Barrett rode him [Is That A Fact] perfectly. I was a bit worried at the top of the lane as Rough Entry looked good turning for home, but I always had faith that with the light impost, I had a chance of running him down,” he added.
Barrett held Is That a Fact in third place down the backstretch, trailing Atomica (Dane Dawkins) and Rough Entry (Shamaree Muir). Barrett then sent through the bay colt to fight Rough Entry going into the half-mile turn as they both pulled away from
Atomica.
Unable to accelerate with Rough Entry, Is That A Fact took a back seat approaching the distance before delivering a thunderous run in a deep stretch that saw him surge to the front at the half-furlong pole for the win.
“The plan going into the race was to get a good break, relax him, and make him run the last two furlongs. I worked with the trainer’s instructions, and we won. When I asked Is That A Fact to run, he responded, and that was that,” Barrett said.
