Shergar (March 3, 1978 - c) February 1983) was an Irish-trained horse trained by the British, and the winner of the 202 (1981) Epsom Derby with ten longest winning margins in the race history.
Two years later, on February 8, 1983, he was stolen from Stud Ballymany, near The Curragh in County Kildare, Ireland by masked gunmen and never to be seen again. This incident has been an inspiration for several books, documentaries, and movies.
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Shergar is a horse bay with a wide white blaze raised by its owner, Aga Khan in County Kildare. Ireland. He was ruled by the Great Nephew, the victorious British stallions including Prix du Moulin and other descendants including Grundy, Mrs Penny and Tolmi.
Shergar was sent to training with Michael Stoute at Newmarket.
Maps Shergar
Racing career
1980 : two-year season
His first run was a victory in field 23 with just over two lengths on the Kris Plate, and he set a course record at Newbury. In his only way - William Hill's Futurity Stakes (now the Post-Race Trophy) in Doncaster, won by Beldale Flutter - he's second, lost by the same two-and-a-half-length margin he won his first race.
1981: season three years
His 3 year race debut in 1981 was the Guardian Classic Trial at Sandown Park. The racing correspondent Richard Baerlein, having watched the horse win by 10 tracks, famously advised the racing audiences that "at 8-1, Shergar for Derby, now is the time to bet like a man."
After winning Chester Vase with 12 lengths, Shergar began his favorite odds-on favorite at Epsom, ridden by 19-year-old jockey Walter Swinburn, also entering his first Derby. Swinburn recalls that at the start of the race, Shergar "found his own move and threw together as the leader went on a million miles per hour, with me just putting my hand on wither and letting him travel at his own pace". Shergar retreated ahead early and became clearer, so far John Matthias at Glint Of Gold runner-up thought he was winning: "I told myself that I had achieved my life's ambitions only then I found another horse on the horizon."
The next Shergar race is the Irish Derby, which is driven by Lester Piggott. The obvious ease with which the Shergar past the rest of the runners, winning with 4 longs, led to commentator Peter O'Sullevan exclaiming: "He's just in the exercise canter!" The horse became a national hero in Ireland.
Seeking to exploit the Shergar's value at its peak, the Aga Khan sold 34 stock horses for Ã, £ 250,000 each, saving six for himself, resulting in a valuation of Ã, Â £ 10 million, then a record for a stallion standing in the stud at Europe. Among the buyers are billionaire blood stocks John Magnier and Shergar vet, Stan Cosgrove.
Shergar also won King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in Ascot with four long. After that came his only failure when he was three years old when the foal seemed to fail to extend fourteen furlongs and finished fourth at St. Leger Stakes in Doncaster. Swinburn sent a distress signal with two long spots to go, and Shergar finished behind Cut Above, the horse he struck at the Irish Derby. Lester Piggott's view was that "he must have been on top of that time" but, whatever the explanation, the Shergar racing career is over. He has six wins with prize money of £ 436,000.
Mastering career
In October 1981, Shergar arrived in Newbridge. Greeted by city bands and cheers of school children waving flags in green and red racing Aga Khan, he was paraded on the main road. Aga Khan, who decided to defend the Shergar in Ireland against those who gloomily expect his dismissal into the United States, is there to welcome the prize winner.
Shergar produces 35 horses from his single season in stud, the best being Irish St. Leger 1986, Authaal, but only one was born at the time of theft. The syndicates can charge a student fee of £ 50,000 - Ã, Â £ 80,000 for the Shergar and if his offspring succeed well on the line, that cost will double. However, despite the value of equality, the Ballymany Stud is not well protected and the criminal group has little difficulty in gaining access. The thefts were the first in Ireland.
Theft
On February 8, 1983, one week before the start of Shergar's second season in stud - with up to 55 horses - a horse trailer arrived at the stud house at 8:30 pm. Inside his house, Shergar man, James Fitzgerald thought he heard cars in the yard. He listened, heard nothing more, and forgot about it. At 8:40, there was a knock on the door. Fitzgerald's son, Bernard, answered it. Callers are wearing Garda (Police) uniforms, with balaclava. He asks James Fitzgerald, and drops Bernard to the floor as he turns around. James Fitzgerald came out of the living room to see his son on the floor. Three people pushed into the house, and held the family at gunpoint in the kitchen. According to Fitzgerald, the thieves were very calm and well-organized and referred to each other as Cresswell.
The intruders beckoned him to put on his coat, and two of them took him out. Fitzgerald was taken to the stud building and led the thieves to the Shergar kiosk. Fitzgerald was forced to help the thieves load the Shergar into a double horse box that had been drawn to the kiosk. Fitzgerald said the gang numbered at least 6 people. Shergar was then pulled away, and Fitzgerald was forced into another vehicle and toured for about 3 hours. Fitzgerald was then thrown out of the car, 7 miles (11 km) from stud, after being codenamed "King of Neptune" to be used by thieves in negotiations.
Investigation
The subsequent police investigation into the abduction was called "caricature of police carelessness". Fitzgerald summoned the male ranch manager, who summoned Shergar, Cosgrove veterinarian. The veterinarian then telephoned a fellow racer, Sean Berry, who in turn called Alan Dukes, Irish Finance Minister and local TD for Newbridge. Duke in turn gave them a contact number for Michael Noonan, Minister of Justice. After eight hours, someone called the Gardaa.
Their direct investigation was hampered by planning by the gang, who had chosen the same day as the country's biggest horse sales, as the horse carcass passed each way in Ireland. Leading an investigation into the theft was by wearing superintendent head Jim "Spud" Murphy, who was the subject of much media coverage. The detection technique is unconventional, and various forecasters, psychics and forecasters are called to help. In an interview, Mr Murphy told reporters: "A hint... that's what we have not got."
Despite the many reported sightings and secret negotiating rumors in the days after the theft, there was little new information, and the press began to focus their attention on Mr. Murphy. During one press conference, six photographers appeared dressed in trilbies, identical to the police chief, after which Mr. Murphy was given a much lower public profile.
While police are looking for farms in the Republic of Ireland, gang members start looking for ransom. Initially, they asked for negotiations with three racing journalists, John Oaksey and Derek Thompson, both working for ITV, and Peter Campling, working for The Sun. The day after the theft, Thompson received a call at 1:15 am from someone claiming to be one of the thieves. He was sent to negotiate in the spotlight full of media circus that went down in Ireland. She managed to get the press off her trail and spent her time at Jeremy Maxwell's horse-drawn coach house taking calls from criminals. All she got was a $ 40,000 payment charge. On Thursday morning, he received a phone call telling him that the horse "had an accident" and "died".
Away from TV cameras, the real thieves have been in contact with the Aga Khan office in Paris, unaware that he has only a minority share in horse ownership. When discovering that Shergar has many owners, the gang agrees to provide evidence that he is still alive. Cosgrove is represented for gathering evidence, which must be left at the hotel reception. However, the striking presence of the Special Branch warned the gang.
The criminals made further calls threatening to kill Shergar and the negotiator Aga Khan. Finally, however, a picture of a horse's face next to a newspaper was sent to the police, but the owner was still not satisfied. What gangs do not know is that the syndicates do not intend to pay because they want to prevent future theft. Syndicate member Sir John Astor explained: "We will negotiate, but we will not pay." Had they paid money for Shergar's release, they reasoned that every racehorse in the world would be the target of theft.
Four days after the kidnapping, the thieves made their last call. The syndicate issued a statement blaming the temporary IRA for the crime.
Thief
IRA Theory
The strongest suspect for theft is the Temporary Irish Republican Army, whose motive is to raise money for weapons. This theory is supported by Sean O'Callaghan, the supergrass IRA in his book The Informer . He claimed that the whole scheme was masterminded by Kevin Mallon and when Shergar panicked, so did the team, which resulted in the horse being shot. He also claims that Shergar might be shot within hours of being snatched away. The thieves, who had no prior experience with the strained nature of horses, were unable to cope. "One of the gangs who strongly told me that Shergar had been killed in a couple of hours, they could not handle it, he went mad in the stable, wounded his legs and they killed him." Discussing this allegation on Channel 4 in the UK, Fitzgerald said: "I consider him to be very troublesome, and with those who do not know horses, they may be a little afraid of him." O'Callaghan said the IRA had requested a £ 5 million ransom from the unfulfilled Aga Khan.
A suspected hole was dug in the remote mountains near Ballinamore, County Leitrim. The body is dragged into it and quickly covered. There are no markers left in the grave. The IRA has never officially claimed responsibility for stealing Shergar.
O'Callaghan accused the gang as part of a special IRA operations unit, set up for the purpose of raising funds through crime. Shergar will be the first victim, chosen for his assumed asset wealth, and misconception that horse theft will cause less public anger than kidnapping humans.
Existence
The remains of the Shergar were never found and the thieves were never officially identified. The Sunday Telegraph reported that four days after the Shergar was arrested, the Army Council realized that they would never collect a ransom. They decided to release the horse, but because of the tight supervision of Mallon and under the eyes of the whole Irish community, the thieves found it impossible to transfer Sherlock or free the horse near where he was being held. Mallon thought the horse was injured, and ordered his execution.
The two thieves, who were inexperienced in handling racehorses and without prior knowledge of human euthanization techniques, went to a remote place where the Shergar was arrested and fired with a machine gun. An ex-IRA member involved describes the scene to The Sunday Telegraph: "Shergar is a machine shot by death There is blood everywhere and the horse even slips on its own blood There is a lot of garbage and curses "Because the horse will not die. It was a very bloody death. "
Little derived from the Shergar theft - the thieves never get their money and most insurance companies never pay the syndicate, claiming that he can still live after the policy ends. The insurance policy against theft taken with the pioneer of the Aviva insurance group pays Ã, Â £ 144,000, according to Aviva online archive. According to a spokeswoman for Lloyd's of London, members of the insured syndicate for theft were paid $ 10.6 million in compensation.
Legacy
The Shergar Cup was inaugurated in his honor at Goodwood Racecourse in 1999. The race is now run in Ascot and is a contest between European riders and people from all over the world. Now the competition is between four teams, England and Ireland, Europe, Rest of World and for the first time in 2012 all women's team.
The loss of Shergar was made into a Hollywood movie, Shergar, starring Ian Holm and Mickey Rourke, and directed by Dennis Lewiston.
Pedigree
See also
- Corrida (horse)
- Fanfreluche (horse)
References
Source
- Howard, Paul. (2004) Hostess: Notorious Irish Kidnappings . O'Brien Press. ISBN: 978-0862787691
- O'Callaghan, Sean. (1998) The Informer . Bantam. ISBN: 978-0593042854
- Pulsed Time , Vol. 24, No. 25, June 21, 2008.
External links
- Shergar History
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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