Shergar

 

The Unsolved Mystery of Champion Racehorse Shergar's 1978 Disappearance

The disappearance of the champion award-winning Shergar, an Irish-bred thoroughbred racehorse owned by the Aga Khan, remains one of the most perplexing mysteries in equine history. 

Foaled on March 3, 1978, Shergar was a bay colt with a distinctive white blaze on his face, was stabled at the Ballymany Stud in County Kildare, Ireland, owned by the Aga Khan. 

Trained by Michael Stoute, he achieved remarkable success on the track, including a record-breaking 10-length victory in the 1981 Epsom Derby—the largest winning margin in the race's history. 

He also secured wins in the Irish Derby and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, earning the title of European Horse of the Year in 1981. The colt, valued at $13.5 million, had commanded stud fees of approximately $100,000 at that time and had earned the right to be regarded as one of the all-time greats.

When Shergar retired at the end of that season, racehorse owners paid £10m for shares in his services impregnating mares. But the dream of prestigious offspring was shattered in early February 1983, when a gang of armed men arrived at the home of one of Shergar’s grooms, James Fitzpatrick, and forced him to audaciously break into the stud farm, abduct Shergar, and load him into a trailer. 

FitzGerald and Shergar were then driven off in separate vehicles while FitzGerald's family were held at gunpoint to ensure silence. FitzGerald was given a code word to be used in negotiations over a £2 million ransom, driven around for three hours and then dumped by the side of the road.

Eight hours had passed before the search for Shergar began - eight hours during which the 1981 Derby winner could have been driven miles to the north or the south or west.

There had never been a crime like it - the Irish were, and still are, huge horse lovers. Police began a painstaking search, asking the public to check every stable and barn across the country, as speculation grew over who had been responsible for the abduction ... and suspicion fell on the IRA, remember that all this was taking place at the heightened troubles in Belfast.

Despite negotiations, the ransom was never paid, and the kidnappers severed communication after providing unsatisfactory proof that the horse was still alive.

In honour of Shergar, the Shergar Cup was inaugurated in 1999 at Ascot Racecourse in England

Decades later, a former IRA member claimed that the organisation had orchestrated the kidnapping to fund their activities. It is alleged that Shergar panicked during the abduction, injured his leg, and was subsequently put down by the kidnappers.

Though this case remains unsolved to this day with no arrests made and the horse's fate still unknown, Shergar's story has inspired books, documentaries, and films, and his legacy endures in the world of horse racing. 

Sources: 

• https://canadianthoroughbred.com/magazine/profiles/mystery-shergars-kidnapping-never-solved
• https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21316921
• https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/irish-race-horse-stolen