"I can still remember that night in that car with them lads. He said the scene that greeted him at Belfast airport was unreal: "It was like being a film star. A common belief is that Shergars remains are buried somewhere in that region of the country. Although there was some dissent, the members of the syndicate owning shares in Shergar refused to countenance paying over any money and, shortly afterwards, all contact was ended and the mystery deepened. Shergar mystery revived as skull is found | UK news | The Guardian The precise nature of how Shergar was killed has never been definitively established, the same as how much of what happened to the record-breaking Derby "We want 2 million if you want the horse back in one piece," they said. He was astonished to find it was pierced by two bullet holes. The thoroughbreds remains have never been found. Hunter discovers skeletal remains of N.J. man missing for months No horse has ever recorded a greater winning margin in the famous race. "I was there with a farmer's son and he said it was not an ordinary horse.". It was a very bloody death.". I hope one day we can get to the bottom of what happend. The kidnapping became one of the great mysteries of the 1980s, with constant reports of sightings, but despite a nationwide search no trace of him was ever found. This meant there were two parallel inquiries, with the two forces refusing to share information. The plot, hairbrained as it turned out, was to gain a ransom for the record-breaking Epsom Derby winner. It is still the sort of town where locals turn their heads when two British journalists walk into a pub. Copyright 2023 Irish Studio LLC All rights reserved. In 2004, he vowed never to talk about the incident again, but Alison managed to get him to speak to camera. "A clue? Shergar was stolen from Ballymany Stud in Co Kildare on the night of February 9th, 1983. Lawyer Owen Tebbs, who organised the syndicate for the Aga, said: "It is quite likely many have not taken out insurance. Bank robberies, or hold-ups of cash in transit, was becoming more and more difficult and a new strategy needed to be found. Now is the time to bet like men, he famously counselled. She still believes that there are people who have a knowledge of where the remains of the horse lie buried. Those hairs would be invaluable DNA evidence if any remains of the animal are ever found. Shergar won at a canter and the chief anticipation at Epsom was whether the sensational three-year-old and his young jockey would handle the enormous expectation. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. Secretariat Maybe the most well-known racehorse of all time was the first in racing history to be awarded the Horse of the Year Award. And Walter was just an excellent horseman.. When she spoke with people, she found them friendly but reticent File photograph: Matt Kavanagh. Home Horse How Many Horses Did Shergar Sire? An astonishing lack of security made it equally simple for a four-man gang to steal him from the Aga Khan's stud farm in Ireland. The dark humour disguised the less palatable truth that Ireland, the Banana Republic, couldnt even cherish and safeguard one of the most gorgeous animals the world had seen. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Fitzgerald was then forced into their car at gunpoint. Others said he had been seized for Colonel Gaddafi of Libya in return for arms to the IRA. Tommy Foley, from Tralee in Co Kerry, said he found the remains of the stallion's skull last Saturday during an annual clean up of a glen outside the West Ireland town. Eventually, he walked to the next village and rang his brother. Physically, he was a distinctive beauty: the white blaze on the nose, the four white socks. There was blood everywhere and the horse even slipped on his own blood. They warned Mr Fitzgerald not to inform the police and said they would be in touch at noon yesterday with more details. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. Who is the greatest female horse of all time? The gang struck as stud head groom Jim Fitzgerald and his family were relaxing after dinner at their home in Ballymany, near Newbridge in County Kildare. Hes with his father Wally; boyish, serious, not remotely fazed. The bronze, a replica of a statue at Aintree, is worth pounds 10,000. Tests carried out at the Irish Equine Centre, in County Kildare, found the skull belonged to a much younger horse than the racing legend was when he was abducted. Why Does My Horse Bob Is Head When I Put His Bridle On? I found that really strange. More importantly, he was also able to confirm a number of different details.". The Aga Khan, Shergars owner, sent the horse for training in Britain in 1979 and 1980. Cosgrove didnt doubt this was Shergar but it was impossible to tell if the horse was even alive. It remains the sporting world's most infamous unsolved crime: the theft and subsequent disappearance of legendary 'super-horse' Shergar. The Unsolved Mystery of Shergar According to the BBC, The body has never been found. I think Wally and [trainer] Michael Stoute not me, I can assure you, I was the one who was in bits were very good with him. The odds shrank to 8/1: Baerlein warned that those odds would again halve if Shergar triumphed at the Chester Vase. Because horses can get pushed out or knocked back and things happen in races . Stud fees were set at around 80,000 for each time it covered a brood mare. An armed gang who stole Shergar, winner of the 1981 Derby from the Aga By day four, an impasse had been reached. He opened it to find two men wearing balaclavas wielding guns - one of them said, We have come for Shergar. Most investigators accepted from early on, however, that the IRA was to blame. He proved infertile as a stallion, as none of the 34 mares bred to him became pregnant. 35 foals. Laurence White reports. The description speaks of the low ignorance of the moment. Shergar was valued at 10million when he disappeared. Alison, who has been fascinated by the disappearance of Shergar since her early years, researched the existing material meticulously and found some of the so-called 'exclusives' less than accurate. Bold Ruler. The IRA has privately tried to blame renegade members for the kidnap, but Kevin O'Connor, a historian and journalist with top Republican contacts, dismisses this idea. An Irish police spokesman said they had appealed for Mr Foley to come forward immediately so the find could be investigated. It is believed that an IRA gang took him at a time when kidnappings were plentiful. Unlike today, there were no electronic security gates, CCTV cameras or an intercom to gain access - even though the horses inside were sometimes worth millions of pounds each. In February 1983, It was a very bloody death.. Shergar was voted European Racehorse of the Year, but he never raced again and was retired to stud. Shortly after 8.30pm on February 8, 1983, Jim Fitzgerald, then 53, the head groom who lived at the stud, heard a knock on his door. On the cold, muggy evening of February 8, 1983, Shergar was kidnapped by a gang of men in balaclavas, thought to be part of the IRA. WebShergar No one has ever admitted responsibility for the incident, and the remains of the horse have never been found. Award-winning filmmaker Alison Millar realised she had uncovered gold dust when she was shown the hefty sheaf of letters sent from Maghaberry Prison by Sean O'Callaghan to Mr Clarke. No-one has ever admitted the theft of Shergar. Once back home, Mr Fitzgerald found his family unharmed. In an interview given to the Telegraph in 2008, a source claimed that Shergar was machine-gunned to death by the IRA. At least six thugs arrived at the stud farm at around 8.30pm and held Jim Fitzgerald, head groom, at gunpoint. The body has never been found. Former IRA informer Sean O'Callaghan, who is from Co Kerry, later claimed that the horse had been killed by his abductors who were unable to handle him. Stan Cosgrove presented himself but with the hotel heavily staked by plain clothes police officers, no kidnappers appeared. Alison, through her old-fashioned journalistic techniques of following up every lead, gained interviews with two leading IRA figures, one of whom appears in the film. "A vet has confirmed that the holes in the skull are pistol-shots. Four days after the kidnap, a last phone call came through to Paris. Years later, there were still whispers that Shergar was alive and secretly producing foals whose breeding lines could never be divulged. 1 Ruffian. That is something we haven't got," he once said. One of the central figures in the documentary is former equine vet Stan Cosgrove, who was also a shareholder in Shergar. "No horse deserves an ending like that - let alone one as special as Shergar. It was believed Shergar valued at 10m was taken by the IRA, which was short of money and looking for new sources of funding. In an apparent bid to receive a pay out, jailed IRA Some horses are treated similar to pets, kept for their companionship and entertainment value. Mr Foley, who used to enjoy betting on Shergar, said yesterday: "I found the skull in a sack hidden behind a rock in a dip. Other members of the gang backed up a van. Shergar won the Espom Derby in England in 1981, romping home by ten lengths, which still remains the record for the longest margin of victory in the famous race. Chief Supt James "Spud" Murphy became the darling of the media for his bizarre pronouncements and his determination to use psychics and mediums to try to solve the case. His reluctance to talk is understandable. With a distinctive white blaze on his face, four white "socks" and his unusual racing style - he ran with his tongue lolling out of one side of his mouth - Shergar quickly captured the imagination of the British and Irish public. Shergars owners reportedly refused to give in to the two million pound ransom demand for fear of setting a precedent. Tommy Foley, from Tralee in Co Kerry, said he found the remains of the stallions skull last Saturday during an annual clean up of a glen outside the West Ireland town. The other IRA figure was Kieran Conway, a one-time intelligence chief of the organisation, who had rejoined the organisation after the 1981 hunger strikes. "When I saw the names he mentioned, I knew right away that what he was saying in the letters was right," she says. In February 1983, Shergar was kidnapped from his stable in Kildare, held for ransom, and brutally killed by his captors who havent been identified. Four hours later he was released, still blindfolded but unharmed, near Dublin. Some said it was the Mafia in retaliation for a horse deal with the Aga Khan that had gone wrong. Now, chief reporter Andrew Alderson has solved the mystery of Shergar's final hours, why his remains have never Share your favorite stories with other history buffs in the IrishCentral History Facebook group. Then, after the Shergar fiasco, another supermarket boss, Don Tidey, was also kidnapped and a ransom demanded. Many in the Republic, including broad Republican sympathisers, would never have forgiven the IRA and its political wing, Sinn Fein, for machine gunning the equine pride of the nation in cold blood. The stallion had a white blaze mark on his face, four white "socks" and a distinctive racing style of running with his tongue hanging out - he was gentle, calm and kind. I love to think about how Secretariat is Ruffians uncle. "Shergar was a grand horse and he deserved better. If we can show it is possible to identity him after all this time it may deter other people from kidnapping horses," he said. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. An Irish councillor claims he had discovered the head of horse racing legend Shergar. Mr Foley, who still has the head, said he had not yet been to the police about the discovery, but planned to do so soon. Shergar He then hung up. He was expected to be a source of profit for the syndicate which owned him. She laughs at the memory before another thought occurs. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click this link: thesun.co.uk/editorial-complaints/, The disappearance of champion racehorse Shergar remains a mystery, English jockey Walter Swinburn, 19, on Shergar in 1980, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). If that was not bad enough insurers refused to pay him out, insisting there was no proof that the horse was, indeed, dead. His peerless season, remember, coincided with the dark, muggy summer of the Hunger Strikes. ", Michael Stoute, who trained the horse to win two Derbys, said: "He was the best I ever had.". Foaled on March 3rd, 1978 at The Aga Khans stud at Sheshoon, Shergars dam, Sharmeen, was a descendent of Mumtaz Mahal, in turn the daughter of The Tetrarch, foaled at the Straffan stud in Kildare in 1911 and one of the most influential host lines of the last century. Millars film is a forensic portrayal of Shergars kidnapping and contains definitive interviews with Cosgrove and Fitzgerald, both of whom died in the years afterwards. He had a lot of confidence in Shergar. Family history, family mystery - where did my Irish great-grandfather end up? And especially in that era, the shoulder pad and champagne era, it was very glossy. But four hours later, he was released and found 40 miles away from the stud farm. The stud farm was Ireland's main racecourse and training grounds. They were so lovely and they went through such trauma. And I wanted to capture this love story that Ireland had with this beautiful beast. Members of the 34-share syndicate could face huge losses if he is damaged. Vanilla Ice: loves his racing, baby BBC Vanilla Ice said: I love horses, I love watching them. No one has ever admitted responsibility for the incident, and the remains of the horse have never been found. It was left to each member to insure his own share. I understand that. From revolutionaries to royalty, Toby covers the "I have never gone along with the theory that he was too hard to control because he was the quietest, gentlest horse, with a bombproof temperament.". Security was very lax.". Ive made some really hard films. Searching For Shergar, the work of Erica Starling Productions, will be shown on Sunday at 8pm on BBC2 before being repeated in Ireland on RTE1 at 9.30pm on Tuesday. Alison stresses that the programme, which is screened next week on BBC One Northern Ireland, is a documentary, not an investigation, but it obviously required much research. But the next year - when 55 mares were lined up to breed from Shergar - everything changed. But I couldnt understand why the way we talk about silence and fear in relation to the past on this island extended to this horse. What happened to Shergar, when was he kidnapped and where 'He was a very kind horse. The gang had chosen the time for the snatch carefully. It was believed Shergar valued at 10m was taken by the IRA, which was short of money and looking for new sources of funding. "An operation of this intensity requiring this amount of manpower would have to have been authorised at a high level," he said. He was born in Kildare in 1978 and kidnapped by an armed gang in 1983. O'Callaghan suggested the horse had thrown itself into a frenzy, injured a leg and that it was put out of its misery and "was killed within days even though the IRA kept up the pretence that he was alive". Shergar began his first season of racing in September 1980 and ran two races that year, where he won one and came second in the other.