Following this triumph, he had four more major derby wins and was named European Horse of the Year. There, he was syndicated for 10 million (40 shares worth 250,000 each, six of which were kept by the Aga Khan) to stand at stud. Shergar and Mr Fitzgerald were put inside. Taking Shergar, the first title in the new series, Horses in History, examines this oft-discussed mystery in a new way. The plot, hairbrained as it turned out, was to gain a ransom for the record-breaking Epsom Derby winner. Shergar amassed 295,000 in prize money in 1981 under Stoute's careful handling. Conspiracy theories soon abounded over who had kidnapped the horse. A TERROR chief who was publicly accused of being behind the Shergar kidnapping nips down to the bookies on the anniversary of the legendary racehorses disappearance. "These were letters which set out not only what happened to Shergar, but also referred to the kidnapping of people.". They have narrowed the field, in a manner of speaking, down to a small townland called Aughrasheeling, not far from Ballinamore, and less than 10 miles from the Northern Ireland border. Alison adds: "The letters also set the context for the period, and when we were fitting the jigsaw together, we never found a piece missing. Stan Cosgrove presented himself but with the hotel heavily staked by plain clothes police officers, no kidnappers appeared. "Shergar was a grand horse and he deserved better. They did. 1: First Down Dash, $89,707,366. But he wanted his champion to stand at his Irish stud. Mallon is described by those who know him, including former paramilitaries, as a "head case". A convicted killer from Co. Tyrone, he eventually became part of IRA folklore after shooting his way out of one prison and being lifted by helicopter from another. No horse has ever recorded a greater winning margin in the famous race. As his son, Bernard, answered it, three masked and armed men barged their way in and started ordering the family around. Millars research brought her to Leitrim and the wild landscape outside Ballinamore. Indeed, it could well have been from the weapon used to terrorise the groom's family until the gang made their getaway. The other - "a very senior IRA man" - agreed to talk to her off the record. During the 18 days Cleo sMITH spent being held in a home in Carnarvon in Western Australia, her hair had been completely changed by her abductor. Love Irish history? And there is a separate sadness, too, in that Swinburn, after coming through the vicissitudes of flat racing, would die from injuries sustained from an accidental fall at his home in London, in 2016. The IRA plan was naive: they assumed they were blackmailing the Aga Khan for a ransom of 2 million. He was thought to have a long and distinguished stud career ahead of him. The man who made Shergar a superstar appealed to the kidnapperslast night: "For God's sake, don't harm him. Seven of the most famous ranch and quarter horse bloodlines are Doc Bar, Driftwood, Two Eyed Jack, Joe Hancock, Playgun, Old Sorrel, and Peppy San Badger. The bay colt was owned by the Aga Khan, the billionaire spiritual leader to 15 million Ismaili Muslims, was trained by Sir Michael Stoute at Newmarket and was ridden by the "choirboy", an angelic looking 19-year-old jockey called Walter Swinburn, who now trains in Britain. It is believed that an IRA gang took him at a time when kidnappings were plentiful. Predictably, the residents claimed to know nothing about Shergar's whereabouts before or after he was killed. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. All of this was reported by an international media fascinated by the lead investigator, Superintendent Jim Murphy, a trilby-wearing veteran with a laconic and highly quotable manner: They must be running into the 50 now, he said drily of the clairvoyants and physics who offered leads and dreams. The thoroughbreds remains have never been found. Our inquiries led photographer Julian Andrews and me to Ballinamore, a town in Co Leitrim once known as "the Falls Road of the South" because of its support for the Provos. Don Tidey, an Irish businessman, was found alive in woods near the town after being kidnapped by the IRA at the end of 1983, months after Shergar's disappearance. I dont think this is a good thing, I cant stand the thought of overpaying for something I could have afforded with a little planning, Homobesity: How one overweight, gay, middleaged man learned to be comfortable in his skin, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+: 10 of the best new shows to watch in May. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. At least six thugs arrived at the stud farm at around 8.30pm and held Jim Fitzgerald, head groom, at gunpoint. 'He was a very kind horse. Because horses can get pushed out or knocked back and things happen in races . There was blood everywhere and the horse even slipped on his own blood. . "There is a possibility that it was him because when Shergar was abducted there was a Kerry connection.". 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. Police have now passed the skull to the Garda team at Naas, in Co Kildare, which is responsible for the inquiry into the disappearance of Shergar in 1983. The Ballymany Stud is located in County Kildare, Ireland. In a neat turn of phrase, Alison says: "They thought this horse would be their cash cow.". 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. He loaded Shergar into the horsebox the men had brought with them. But having established beyond doubt that the horse was killed by the IRA - though Alison is unable to confirm some reports which said that it was machine-gunned to death after breaking a leg and becoming unmanageable - there remained the question posed by the title of the documentary, Searching for Shergar. 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. In an apparent bid to receive a pay out, jailed IRA informant Seon O'Callagan claimed the horse died within 24 hours. Swinburn would ride two other Derby winners but his surname and glittering career will always be associated with that of Shergar. He was a 25/1 shout for the Derby after trainer Michael Stoute decided to prepare him after his maiden season in 1980. A gate leading to the stud was unguarded and unlocked when the gunmen arrived at 8.30 on Tuesday night. He became the first racehorse to win the Kentucky Derby starting from last place winning in under 2-minutes. The most valuable horse in the world disappeared without trace. Nobody has ever been charged with the theft. "There were two bullet holes in the head and it was definitely a racehorse's head," he said. The next day, another call came through with the following message: The horse has had an accident. Piggott was not a man given to excessive emotion but of Shergar he said late in his life: He was one of the best horses of the last hundred years. By David Remnick. He is the majority shareholder in the syndicate, which also includes trainer Vincent O'Brien and leading owner Robert Sangster. Most investigators accepted from early on, however, that the IRA was to blame. But this turned out to be an elaborate hoax and the real negotiations were going on between. Remains were never found, and what happened to the horse has never been known. In 2004, he vowed never to talk about the incident again, but Alison managed to get him to speak to camera. The champion racehorse won the 1981 Derby by a record of 10 lengths. Another would not cause any attention. When proof of the horses wellbeing was required, the kidnappers instructed someone to go to the Crofton Hotel and report to the front desk as Johnny Logan. Alison has no doubt. Ill never forget it. After Shergar won the 202nd Epsom Derby and the Irish Derby in 1981, the five-year-old Irish-bred retired. In February 1983, Shergar was kidnapped from his stable in Kildare, held for ransom, and brutally killed by his captors who havent been identified. Shergar was born in Kildare, Ireland in 1978. but he had a great head that way. Just sort of go out there and do your best. Chief superintendent James Murphy, who is leading the kidnap hunt, said last night: "It was unbelievably easy. Shergar was so far out of sight that John Matthias, riding the second-placed Glint of Gold, admitted that in the tumult he was convinced hed won the race. Collectively it had been decided not to pay the ransom because they figured if they had, every racehorse in the world would be in danger, as many of them were worth over a million pounds (1.5 million dollars) and Ireland had lacked adequate security. I love to think about how Secretariat is Ruffians uncle. 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. The source said that the two handlers, one clutching a machine gun, went into the remote stable where the horse was being held and opened fire. "He was a gentleman and he even gave us his mobile telephone number. He said he had long suspected that the horse, in the hands of non-experts, had met a lingering death "crazed with pain". The 10-length winning distance has never been bettered in a race that dates back to 1780. One said it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. And they would go: yes, somebody knows, but we have to move on, love, we dont want to talk about it. But it wasnt just any horse. Shergar has vanished before, but only briefly. "His wife had found out what he was up to and warned him that if he walked out of the door [to look after Shergar] he would never walk in again," said the source. Shergar was voted European Racehorse of the Year, but he never raced again and was retired to stud. In coldly commercial terms, Shergar was an international commodity: breeding fees went for 80,000. He received a rapturous welcome on his homecoming to the Curragh for the Irish Derby. 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 hope one day we can get to the bottom of what happend. But Richard Baerlein, the canny racing correspondent, was so convinced after witnessing Shergar and Swinburn cruise to a 10-length victory at Sandown in April 1981 that he urged punters to get in while the going was good. The events of February 1983 threatened that ecosystem. Then, after the Shergar fiasco, another supermarket boss, Don Tidey, was also kidnapped and a ransom demanded. The equine equivalent of the Lord Lucan mystery, there has been no ending to the riddle, with the IRA never officially claiming responsibility and Shergar's body never found. There was blood everywhere and the horse even slipped on his own blood. Of course, the world kept turning and Ireland was beset by problems more profound than a disappeared horse. However, another line of dialogue was taking place through Ballymany Stud, where a caller gave the code name King Neptune the name the kidnappers had instructed Jim Fitzgerald to remember and pass on. Now a new BBC One Northern Ireland documentary reveals the thoroughbred is likely buried in a desolate bog in Co Leitrim. Where is the animal buried? 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". Thompson believed he kept the call going long enough to trace the location only to be told by police that the man who did their tracing had clocked off and headed home at midnight. Win a traditional Aran Sweater for Him & Her from Aran Woollen Mills, The Irish guests who'll attend Joe Biden's State of the Union Address tonight, Cork school group thankful after narrowly avoided Turkey earthquake. All rights reserved. For other inquiries, Contact Us. But even around the area where the horses remains are alleged to be . Olly Murs breaks down on stage over Caroline Flack 'regret', Fulham's Pereira stretchered off with suspected broken leg in worrying scenes, One dead and seven injured as knifeman goes on bloody rampage near club, 'Meghan killed me - then she mourns me', says estranged dad Thomas Markle, News Group Newspapers Limited in England No.