Can you imagine someone stealing a retired horse? The answer would probably be not, but in the case of the stolen racehorse, something similar has happened.
When it comes to the rare horse, everybody would want to have it, and that’s what an armed gang stealing a retired Irish bred called Shergar. This horse was described as the finest racehorse in the last 50 years. According to The Daily Express, the story of Shergar captivated the attention of the Irish people, becoming the pride of its people and dominating the racing games.
THE CASE OF THE STOLEN RACEHORSE: SHERGAR
Shergar was an undefeated racehorse and one of the greatest horses to compete in the horseracing. In 1981 Shergar did not disappoint her fans in Derby Epsom, who thought she would easily win the race; moreover, Shergar also made the record of winning the race by ten lengths. That was the longest distance between the winner horse and the rest of them in England’s Derby Epsom horse race.
Moreover, Shergar won in major races such as the Epsom Derby and the Irish Derby, the St. Leger Stakes, King George VI, and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. These wins made him the most popular and successful horse of all time; got retired in 1981. After two years of retirement, a gang stole Shergar, and he was never found again.
Ismaili Muslim leader, Aga Khan, was the owner of Shergar and the horse’s value at that time was £10 million. His sperms were way more expensive than any other race purse. Unfortunately the case of the stolen racehorse had a very sad end.
HOW WAS SHERGAR STOLEN?
People are still interested to know about the case of the stolen racehorse due to its amazing races that made everyone his fan. On February 8, 1983, at 8:30 am, three masked armed men knocked at the door of James Fitzgerald’s home. Fitzgerald was a head groom at Ballymany stud.
Armed men made him a hostage as he opened the door, and two of them locked his family in a room. One-armed man ordered Fitzgerald to load Shergar into the horsebox; after that, they took him along with the horse. After some time, armed men left Fritzgerald on the roadside and threatened that they would kill him and his family if they called the police; however, after eight hours, the police were informed about the incident, but all in vain.
NEGOTIATIONS WITH ARMED MEN
On the very next day after stealing the horse, some called the BBC newsroom in Belfast and asked them to choose the horse experts and work as intermediaries between them and the owner of the horse-a new turn came at this point in the case of the stolen racehorse. One of those experts was Thompson Derek, who was instructed by the call on what he had to do to resolve the ransom issue between them and the owner of Shergar.
Thompson Derek was instructed not to involve the police in the case; however, he did the opposite by trying to help the police trace their calls, but the outcomes were fruitless, and they could not get anything in their hands. Finally, a call from thefts was received, which said the horse was dead.
THE MYSTERY OF THE STOLEN HORSE
According to the reports of BBC, in the case of the stolen racehorse no one found the body of Shergar even though he was dead, according to thieves. Moreover, in 1999 a former IRA officer, Sean O’Callaghan, expressed his thoughts in a book where he said that it was IRA involved in the case of the world’s best racehorse without knowing the fact that it could be an uncontrolled disaster for them. Adding to that, he said that the horse was excited in the horsebox, which caused him to break one of his leg. as it was now useless for them, and the only option left to them was to shoot him dead and bury him somewhere, whereas, they could not get the ransom they demanded.
CONCLUSION
Unfortunately the thieves of the case of the stolen racehorse remained unknown till this day but it’s a fact that Shergar was the best horse of all time and was tragically killed by thieves after breaking his leg. He was an incredible horse with a remarkable story and will be sorely missed by all who knew him.