Proud Truth, BC Classic winner, reported dead

Proud Truth, winner of the 1985 Breeders' Cup Classic, has died in Panama, according to press reports. The 23-year-old stallion reportedly died on Aug. 15 after a bout of colic.

Trained by John Veitch and racing as a homebred for John W. Galbreath's Darby Dan Farm, Proud Truth won six graded stakes in all, including the 1985 Florida Derby and Peter Pan Stakes to complete his trio of Grade 1 victories.

Proud Truth, a son of Graustark out of the stakes-placed Summer Tan mare Wake Robin, bounced back from a fifth-place finish in the 1985 Kentucky Derby to win four in a row, including the Peter Pan and the Grade 3 Discovery, culminating in his dramatic win by a head over Gate Dancer in the Classic.

Proud Truth's final race was in the 1986 Suburban, where he finished second, leaving the track with a record of 10-4-0 from 21 starts and $2,198,895 in earnings.

Proud Truth started his stud career in the United States but was sent to Panama in 1998 and became that country's leading sire in 2003 and 2004.