Shergar was the most celebrated Irish sports star. He also happened to be a horse.
Shergar was a horse considered one of the most significant sporting heroes in Irish history. However, Shergar’s life was short-lived as he was tragically kidnapped in February 1983 and never retrieved.
Nobody knows for sure what happened to Shergar after that fateful night on 8 February. Still, we’re going to talk you through what we know.
Who was Shergar? – the most talented thoroughbreds to ever grace our land
Owned by the Aga Khan, Shergar was a thoroughbred racehorse bred in Ireland. He was sent to Britain to train as a yearling, where he showed outstanding promise and an excellent temperament.
Despite a short-lived career of only eight events, he was considered a precious horse worth £15-16 million (about £45-48 million today).
Shergar is considered one of the best racehorses of all time. He still holds the record for the most significant winning margin at the prestigious Epsom Derby, having won by ten lengths in 1981. No other horse has come close to such a victory since.
After Shergar’s retirement to County Kildare’s Ballymany Stud, the Aga Khan created a syndicate to share ownership with 34 others.
The kidnapping – masked men took the young thoroughbred at gunpoint
The kidnapping was initiated at approximately 8:30 pm on 8 February 1983. Head groomer, Jim Fitzgerald, was at home with his family on site when masked men armed with machine guns came to the door.
After locking Fitzgerald’s family in another room, they said to him, “We have come for Shergar. We want £2 million for him.” Fitzgerald was ordered to take the men to the horse’s stable and guide Shergar into a horse box.
Once the orders were followed, Fitzgerald was blindfolded and driven around for four hours before being thrown out of the vehicle approximately 20 miles away in the town of Kilcock.
The first contact from the kidnappers – said to be a hoax to throw the authorities off the scent
Multiple lines of communication came from those claiming to have Shergar. The first contact was made with horse trainer Jeremy Maxwell. However, this was before Jim Fitzgerald returned to the stud to raise the alarm.
Those contacting Maxwell claimed they wanted £40,000 for the safe release of Shergar. This was later increased to £52,000. However, this was considerably lower than the £2 million quoted to Fitzgerald earlier that night.
Maxwell was informed that the kidnappers would only speak with three horse racing journalists: Derek Thompson, John Oaksey, and Peter Campling. The syndicate’s negotiation committee decided this lead was a hoax to confuse the authorities.
The second contact from the kidnappers – a more direct line on 9 February
The second line of communication was made directly to the Ballymany Stud the day after the kidnapping. The kidnappers quoted their original demand for £2 million.
On demanding proof that the prized thoroughbred was still alive, the kidnappers arranged for polaroids to be taken of the horse, including a photo of a recent edition of The Irish News beside his head, showing the date.
However, all the photos were very close-up images of Shergar’s face. One member said, “It wasn’t proof that the horse was alive […] you’d want to get much more definite evidence […] if you’d have seen the complete horse, it would have been different”.
The final call with the thieves was on 12 February at 10:40 pm. The negotiation team told the kidnappers that the polaroids were not sufficient proof of the horse being alive. The thieves responded, “If you’re not satisfied, that’s it”.
The thieves ended the call, and Shergar was never found.
But what happened to Shergar? – the IRA is considered to be behind the dreadful act
While we may never know precisely what happened to Shergar after he was forcefully removed from Ballymany Stud, many allegations lead back to the IRA.
One source who worked as an IRA informant states that the horse was killed only hours after his kidnapping, which explains why there were only close-ups of the young thoroughbred’s head as proof of his wellbeing.
Another source mentioned they had no specialised horse handler on standby to deal with the animal. Being startled by the gunmen caring for him, he injured his leg and had to be put down.
Yet another told The Sunday Telegraph in 2008, “Shergar was machine-gunned to death. There was blood everywhere, and the horse even slipped on his own blood. There was lots of cussin’ and swearin’ because the horse wouldn’t die. It was a very bloody death.”
There is no way of knowing if any of these accounts are true. Still, a horrid death is widely assumed to be the unfortunate fate of one of Ireland’s most distinguished sporting legends. His story is so famous, Vanilla Ice narrated a podcast on the subject.