Known Fact, winner of the 1980 2000 Guineas on the disqualification of Nureyev, died due to infirmities of old age at owner Khalid Abdulla's Juddmonte Farms near Lexington, Kentucky on Monday. He was 23.
The son of In Reality helped put his owner's colours on the racing map when winning the 1979 Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket for trainer Jeremy Tree.
And he gave Khalid Abdulla his first British Classic success in 1980 when he was promoted to first in the 2000 Guineas after first-past-the-post Nureyev had interfered with third-placed Posse.
He went on to prove himself the top miler of his year when inflicting only the second defeat of the great Kris's career in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot.
He enjoyed a successful career at stud, siring the likes of Warning, Markofdistinction and So Factual.
Willie Carson, who rode Known Fact to his big-race victories said: "He was a miler of the highest class - the best miler I ever rode possibly.
"He was a horse that as a two-year-old was a bit of a tearaway.
"The first time I rode him I had to put his head over the rails to teach him to settle, he always had to be dropped out and relaxed, and that's how I got the ride on him."
