Gymkhana
15 Feb, 2023
SHERGAR - The 40-year-old mystery
The 40-year-old mystery of a missing Derby-winning horse
1983 - SHERGAR was the most valuable horse in the world estimated to be worth up to 10 million pounds.
SHERGAR had just won the Epsom Darby by a staggering 10 lengths - the longest winning margin in the race's history. Less than a month later he romped to victory in the Irish Sweeps Derby winning by four lengths and then went on to win the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes also by four lengths.
But on February 8 1983 the iconic horse was snatched by masked gunmen. What happened next is still shrouded in mystery.
RANSOM SOUGHT
It is believed SHERGAR was abducted by an Irish Republican Army (IRA) gang who intended to obtain a huge ransom. The IRA desperate for funds at the time saw their chance when the horse was staying at the Ballymany Stud in County Kildare Ireland. They believed the horse's owner the fabulously wealthy Aga Khan would pay up to 2 million pounds for his prized thoroughbred.
But they perhaps underestimated how difficult it would be to abduct and conceal a highly-strung racehorse. They also didn't know that just a few months earlier Aga Khan had sold 40 shares in SHERGAR, retaining six for himself meaning there was an owner' syndicate with 34 members.
Negotiations with the gang began, but they broke off when the syndicate didn't accept the proof the gang provided to prove that the horse was still alive.
Media reports have since revealed that the IRA may have ordered the horse's release. But the huge media attention meant it was impossible to do so without incriminating the kidnappers. This sealed SHERGAR's fate and he is said to have been shot and buried at a farmland in the Irish midlands
CREDITS: DAILY MIRROR
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