It was a very bloody death." Shergar, scheduled to cover up to 55 mares a year, has put 42 of his first 44 mares in foal. I do. But even around the area where the horses remains are alleged to be . "A vet has confirmed that the holes in the skull are pistol-shots. Red Rum did not have any foals. Watch: Irish enjoy a trad session in 1988, in Paddy Reillys pub, NYC, How you can learn Gaelic literature and culture online with a top Irish university, The story behind Ireland's favorite song, The Cranberries "Zombie", How the Irish (and Welsh) invented romantic love. Even then, the consensus was that if a ransom were paid, every racehorse in the country would become a potential target. They lived in that other world.. 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. In an apparent bid to receive a pay out, jailed IRA Millars research brought her to Leitrim and the wild landscape outside Ballinamore. The IRA plan was also stupid; none of the kidnappers had a clue how to handle a horse, let alone an excitable stallion. 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. Four days after the kidnap, a last phone call came through to Paris. There was lots of cursing and swearing because the horse wouldnt die. It was several minutes before the horse, which was in agony, slowly bled to death. I never at any stage thought he was worried. It was quite a character of a horse. By day four, an impasse had been reached. Jubilee Farm: The sanctuary in Larne helping refugees and asylum seekers, Life as a pet dog photographer: My rescue dog saved me, now Ive turned my passion into a business, What is Prime Hydration? They are hardly being bumped off in such a fashion all over Ireland, are they?". It was a very bloody death.". Indeed, it could well have been from the weapon used to terrorise the groom's family until the gang made their getaway. . Searching for Shergar, BBC One Northern Ireland, Thursday, June 7, Receive today's headlines directly to your inbox every morning and evening, Please check your inbox to verify your details, I thought Id be hauled over the coals, but my boss suggested I see a doctor. 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 Boomtown Rats released Banana Republic. 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. Bred by the Aga Khan in County Kildare not too far from the stud from which he was eventually taken, Shergar was trained by Sir Michael Stoute in Newmarket. Police said the kidnappers did just that after driving away with their prize. What Colors Can Rocky Mountain Horses Be? The Aga Khan, Shergars owner, sent the horse for training in Britain in 1979 and 1980. "I would love to see this mystery resolved so that we all knew what happened to the horse's remains. The stud farm was Ireland's main racecourse and training grounds. Now, chief reporter Andrew Alderson has solved the mystery of Shergar's final hours, why his remains have never been found and uncovered the truth about the Where is the animal buried? We do not even know what kind of accents they spoke with.". 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. But last night, more than 24 hours after the raid, they had made no contact. With the horse valued at 10 million, he offered 40 shares, at 250,000 each, which were quickly snapped up. Man o War. Jim Fitzgerald, a father of six, was forced at gunpoint to Shergars stable where they were joined by six more masked gunmen. He became the first racehorse to win the Kentucky Derby starting from last place winning in under 2-minutes. Get email updates with the day's biggest stories. There was widespread relief when at the end of his career, instead of being shipped to one of the large American studs as expected, Shergar was returned to his birthplace of Ireland. The 10-length winning distance has never been bettered in a race that dates back to 1780. One of the most famous animal kidnapping cases the in the world took place in Ireland thirty years ago this Thursday. The kidnappers are widely thought to have been IRA members but much less is known for sure about subsequent events, and Shergar's remains have never been found, while the IRA have never admitted any role in the theft or its aftermath. She lives in Newmarket in England. Security was minimal, which reflects a kind of misplaced innocence and trust when it came to Ireland and horses. "After the 1981 hunger strikes, the IRA had increased in strength and support, but desperately needed more funds. Then, pointing their guns at 58-year-old Mr Fitzgerald, they marched him across the road to the luxurious stud. Searching For Shergar will be on BBC iPlayer (Northern Ireland section) from Thursday night. Remains were never In many ways I wanted to call the film the Ghost of Shergar. Tom Foley, an independent member of Kerry county council, found the skull of a racehorse in a deserted gully near Tralee last Saturday. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. With an intense garda hunt taking place across the country and the ransom process now a shambles, a decision was made to end the operation. "No horse deserves an ending like that - let alone one as special as Shergar. Years later, there were still whispers that Shergar was alive and secretly producing foals whose breeding lines could never be divulged. I did find though that people honestly didnt want to talk about it. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. It changed my life, How King Charles III survived threats posed by nationalism on both sides of the Irish Sea, It tastes foul. It is 25 years since a world-famous racehorse was kidnapped by the IRA, never to be seen again. Taking Shergar, the first title in the new series, Horses in History, examines this oft-discussed mystery in a new way. 35 foals. But his disappearance remains a mystery. He opened it to find two men wearing balaclavas wielding guns - one of them said, We have come for Shergar. He was astonished to find it was pierced by two bullet holes. As he was freed the kidnappers told him their chilling terms. By David Remnick. It couldnt have happened in a worse country in that we are the kingdom of the horse here, says racing historian Guy Williams. The plot, hairbrained as it turned out, was to gain a ransom for the record-breaking Epsom Derby winner. A series of phone calls was made, ultimately to Stan Cosgrove, the renowned equine vet and a shareholder in Shergar and to Alan Dukes, the Kildare TD and then minister for finance. A common belief is that Shergars remains are buried somewhere in that region of the country. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, the IRA, and the US Mafia have all been suggested. There are several ideas pertaining to what happened to Shergar. The brass nameplate on Secretariats stall door will remain there. Thompson received a phone call the next day from the kidnappers - they said, "The horse has had an accident. 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. Furthermore, a prominent Provo-supporting family used to live in the village of Aughnasheelan, three miles from Ballinamore, which is surrounded by deep bogs where a horse's body could easily be hidden. Police said: "They could be common criminals or linked with subversive groups. I love to think about how Secretariat is Ruffians uncle. but he had a great head that way. After failed attempts to demand money for the stallion, gentle Shergar was brutally killed and his body was never found. When she spoke with people, she found them friendly but reticent to speak about her chief subject. It was believed Shergar valued at 10m was taken by the IRA, which was short of money and looking for new sources of funding. Nothing more was heard from them again. He remains the only horse to ever win both races in the same season. Shergar, a beloved thoroughbred racehorse worth over $15 million, was kidnapped from his stable in County Kildare by a gang of machine gun-wielding men in balaclavas. WebShergar has never been found. From revolutionaries to royalty, Toby covers the If that was not bad enough insurers refused to pay him out, insisting there was no proof that the horse was, indeed, dead. Kidnapped racehorse Shergar was the centre of a 2 million ransom mystery last night. One idea is that the horse did have some sort of accident while in a frenzy, and the men killed him because they couldnt handle his crazed manner. As his son, Bernard, answered it, three masked and armed men barged their way in and started ordering the family around. WebShergars body has never been recovered or identified. Walter rode horses as he found them and that won him many races. It was not until about 4am that the Garda was alerted - and one of the biggest security operations in the Republic's history swung into action. She still believes that there are people who have a knowledge of where the remains of the horse lie buried. A sign on a railing leading to the stud read: "Please close the gate.". Shergar was taken by masked gunmen on 8 February 1983 and while it's never been been proven exactly what happened there are no end of theories. "I can still remember that night in that car with them lads. Shergar became a father for the first time a week ago when a bay colt [pictured top left on the newspaper page above] who looks remarkably like him was born at the Irish stud. The Sunday Telegraph also tracked down Kevin Mallon to his seafront home in Howth, eight miles from Dublin city centre. The odds shrank to 8/1: Baerlein warned that those odds would again halve if Shergar triumphed at the Chester Vase. In coldly commercial terms, Shergar was an international commodity: breeding fees went for 80,000. I went around to all these places and people were truly kind in talking to me. Shergar's memorable ten-length Epsom Derby victory of 1981. Read more, Known in the industry as fake tails, these pieces, just like the best hairpieces for humans, are made from real hair and braided into existing locks to add length and volume. Jockey Walter Swinburn, who rode Shergar in most of his races, was in India yesterday and had not been told about the horse's disappearance. He was buried at the winning post of the Aintree Racecourse, which is still a destination for his fans. A retired milkman from south-west Ireland believes he may have solved the greatest mystery in the history of horse racing after spending Grand National day cleaning up a beauty spot. The source did not know exactly where Shergar's body was buried, but the fact that his carcass was riddled with bullets meant the gang did everything to ensure Shergar's remains were never found. On the night of February 8th masked gunmen invaded the family home of Jim Fitzgerald, the retired chief groom at Ballymany and a father of six children, took him hostage and brought him to Ballymany. Did They Trade Horses In The Columbian Exchange? 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. 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. After driving him around for three hours, the kidnappers dumped Fitzgerald out of the car. Shergar was kidnapped from the Ballymany Stud on February 9 1983. 1: First Down Dash, $89,707,366. His US Triple Crown performances ingrained his place in history. So Lester Piggott, even then the doyen of flat racing, and jockey for Shergars first maiden race at Newbury, stepped in as Shergar swept the field in the Irish Derby, allowing broadcaster Michael OHehir to exclaim on television: Hes winning it so easily! 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. Alan Dukes, the local MP and Irish finance minister, was then woken by a phone call from Mr Berry telling him of Shergar's kidnapping. he was worth an estimated $50 million at stud. There was blood everywhere and the horse even slipped on his own blood. In a rare and exclusive interview last week, Mr Fitzgerald, now 78, frail and with a full head of white hair, quietly recalled the most terrifying moment of his life, as he was driven away from the stud by three armed men. It is still the sort of town where locals turn their heads when two British journalists walk into a pub. Family history, family mystery - where did my Irish great-grandfather end up? The man, who asked not to be identified, said only an expert should kill a horse - there is a spot the size of a thumb nail on the animal's head which the bullet, or humane killer, has to hit to prevent suffering. "I can tell you, I didn't look around once - I was happy to be on the ground," he said in a broad Co Kildare accent. Forty years on, the taking of Shergar remains such a bizarre and shameful episode in Irish history that it only makes sense when set against the lush scenes and ecstatic cheering of his immortal season. In 2018, the Belfast-based documentary maker succeeded in making a film, Searching for Shergar, which is at once a warm evocation of his splendid life and an examination of the eerie void left by the manner of his death. All sorts of thoughts were racing through my head about what they might do to me. Stan Cosgrove, now 81, who spent more than 80,000 trying to get the horse back and, later, in trying to prove that Shergar was dead, has never received a penny. . But no.. Over the course of the following few days, a strange and blackly comic series of late-night phone calls and false trails formed the official backdrop to a nationwide trawl of farm yards and sheds for the missing horse. The gang had chosen the time for the snatch carefully. She laughs at the memory before another thought occurs. Derby winner Shergar was kidnapped by an IRA gang from a stud in Co Kildare 17 years ago. He had a lot of confidence in Shergar. One group took the horse. Eventually, he walked to the next village and rang his brother. That summer was one of coronation for Shergar. An armed gang who stole Shergar, winner of the 1981 Derby from the Aga Mr Cosgrove, in turn, rang his friend, former Army officer Captain Sean Berry. 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. The horse had retired from racing and had recently embarked on a lucrative career at stud with racehorse owners paying for Shergar to cover their mares in the hope the resulting foal would be another champion. He found his way to a telephone and rang his brother - this phone call led to a series of phone calls between Shergars shareholders, his vet, racing associates and several Irish Ministers. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. Speculation is that they were unable to handle the stallion and shot him before he ran wild on them. Cigar lived out his retirement at the Kentucky Horse Parks Hall of Champions in Lexington. Home Horse How Many Horses Did Shergar Sire? He was caught five miles away by fireman Andy Sheldrick. Along with triple Grand National winner Red Rum, it remains probably the most famous horse to come out of Europe in the last century. He seemed unbeatable - until the St Leger, when he trailed in fourth after starting a hot favourite. "We are keen to find Shergar. In February 1983, at the height of The Troubles, Ireland faced a truly mysterious crime that remains virtually unsolved. When she spoke with people, she found them friendly but reticent 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. An Irish councillor claims he had discovered the head of horse racing legend Shergar. This vivid image of how Shergar died confirmed the worst fears of one of the most senior figures in Irish racing. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. There were cameras all around." The precise circumstances of Shergar's grisly death are also revealed for the first time. In the wake of the kidnapping, he was the victim of a scam in which the Garda appears not to have been blameless and which cost him many thousands of pounds. A shocked Mr Fitzgerald was able to give only a rough outline of the raid. The most famous and valuable racehorse in the world, Shergar had won the 1981 Epsom Derby by ten lengths, which is the longest winning margin in the race's 202-year history. All sorts of thoughts were racing through my head about what they might do to me. Named Horse of the Year in 1957, Bold Ruler was the first stallion whose offspring won more than $2 million in one season. 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. Mr Kehoe, a former Sinn Fein councillor, said he had not sued O'Callaghan because nobody believed him: "He was working for both sides - that's as much as you need to know about what he has to say.". 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. One of the yarns that grew out of that day is that when the younger Swinburn treated himself to an ice-pop, the vendor offered a cheery Have a nice, day, son, not realising he was serving the Derby-winning jockey. An Irish police spokesman said they had appealed for Mr Foley to come forward immediately so the find could be investigated. Secretariat was buried in a 6 by 6-foot oak casket lined with orange silk, the color used by Claibornes racing stables. It was believed Shergar valued at 10m was taken by the IRA, which was short of money and looking for new sources of funding. The Sunday Telegraph has been told that four days after Shergar was seized, and following extensive stalling by the Aga Khan's representative, the Army Council realised their equine "property" was worthless and told the gang to release the horse. Des Leadon, the head of clinical pathology at the Irish Equine Centre, who has investigated a number of horse corpses that were believed to have been Shergar, said DNA testing would have to be used to determine if the skull belonged to the missing horse.
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