Best Mate's achievement of winning three Cheltenham Gold Cups means he will be regarded as horse racing's first star of the 21st century.
After his death at Exeter racecourse, we will remember him as an amazingly talented and good-looking horse who captured the imagination of the public.
What he did in winning three Cheltenham Gold Cups was extraordinary.
To be in a position to run in three Gold Cups is amazing in itself, but to win three shows the incredible ability of the horse and his trainer Henrietta Knight.
Henrietta, her husband Terry Biddlecombe, Best Mate's owner Jim Lewis and the rest of the staff have lost a member of the family and they were a big part of the reason that Best Mate was so popular.
They will be upset at their loss but proud at what the horse has done and what he meant to so many people.
A normal midweek fixture at Exeter might attract 1,000 or so spectators but there were 5,000 at the track on Tuesday, many of whom were there to watch Best Mate in action on his seasonal return.
He had fully recovered from the illness that had ruled him out of a fourth Cheltenham Gold Cup bid last spring and had a nice summer break.
 |  There was no way anyone could have predicted what would happen later |
Since then, he had been working on the gallops every day under the careful eye of Henrietta and Terry and had looked like he was really enjoying himself.
He had given absolutely no cause for concern and went to the start looking superb - it was no surprise that he won the best turned-out award.
There was no way anyone could have predicted what would happen soon after.
As Henrietta said, all of us, horses included, have to die at some time and it will be some comfort that Best Mate died doing what he loved best.
If there was a right way to go, that was it.
When racing encyclopedias are written in the future there will be chapters featuring Arkle, Desert Orchid, Red Rum and Best Mate, who all achieved great things and were loved by people. It has been an extraordinary time for racing. Early on Tuesday we hailed Makybe Diva as the three-time winner of the Melbourne Cup.
There was huge anticipation about Best Mate's race but after the tragic events, there was an extraordinary low.
Half an hour after Best Mate's death, Henrietta Knight was back in the winners' circle with her new young star Racing Demon.
Henrietta has always thought that Racing Demon would challenge the achievements of Best Mate but he chose an amazing time to step into the spotlight.
But whatever he achieves in the future, there will never be another Best Mate.
MMIX
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