Truth behind Shergar thriller that sparked wild theories from Gaddafi to mafia plot

He was the thoroughbred Derby winner that was the pride of Ireland and most famous racehorse on the planet. But the kidnapping of superstar equine Shergar from his stud at gunpoint shocked the world.

And it sparked dozens of theories, from a mafia revenge plot to a conspiracy of silence that he was being secretly kept alive to father more winning horses. It was even claimed Colonel Gaddafi was behind the theft and had been spotted riding the horse in the desert.

The most likely theory is that the IRA were behind a botched bid to raise cash for weapons by holding him for ransom. But the mystery remains unsolved more than 40 years later. Here, your Daily Star looks at the truth behind the disappearance.

Early days

Shergar’s owner The Aga Khan –the spiritual leader to 15million Ismaili Muslims and one of the richest men in the world – sent the horse to the Ballymany Stud in Ireland, where stallion owners were allowed to keep their prize money tax free.

Ireland was seen as the best place to raise a racehorse due to its nutrient-rich limestone soil, which is then consumed when they graze on the grass. The combination of both of those things is credited with the Irish domination of horse racing to this day.

Legendary racing commentator Derek Thompson said: “The grass in England is good, but the grass in Ireland is the best in the world. So if you want to bring a horse up, naturally do it in Ireland.”

Derby delight

Shergar was a descendent of Mumtaz Mahal, one of the most important broodmares of the 20th Century, and was trained by champion trainer Michael Stoute.

After showing some early promise, the wonder horse won the Epsom Derby in 1981 by ten lengths — the biggest winning margin in the race’s history. And three weeks later in the Irish Sweeps Derby, he won by four lengths with legendary Lester Piggott in the saddle.

After being out out to stud, his first breeding season, Shergar covered 44 mares, from which 35 foals were produced. In February 1983, his second stud season was about to begin and he was expected to earn £1 million for the season with 55 mares to cover.

Kidapping

But on February 8, 1983, masked gunmen knocked on the door of the house of Jim Fitzgerald, the head groom at Ballymany Stud, and demanded to be taken to Shergar.

Fitzgerald’s family were locked into a room while he was taken at gunpoint to Shergar’s stable and was told to put the horse in the back of a horsebox. It was the last known sighting of the star racehorse.

After the horsebox was driven away, Fitzgerald was told to lie on the floor of a van and his face was covered with a coat. After four hours, he was finally released around 20 miles from Ballymany and told he and his family would be killed if he called the police.

Aftermath

After frantic phone calls between Shergar’s shareholders, Ireland’s finance minister Alan Dukes was called in the middle of the night, who suggested they call Michael Noonan, the Minister for Justice. Noonan told them to call the police.

The cops were finally called eight hours after Shergar was taken, causing a major delay to their investigation. Their probe was further hindered by a thoroughbred auction being held locally, which meant there was a number of horseboxes seen in the area.

Police “don’t have a clue”

Chief Superintendent James Murphy, a highly experienced detective, lead the investigation, but quickly became a figure of derision among the international press. At one press conference, he told reporters: “A clue? That is something we haven’t got.”

He told press that several people claiming to have paranormal powers contacted the Gardaí (Irish police) with their thoughts, saying: “Diviners, clairvoyants and psychic persons—they’re in three different categories—they must be running into the fifties now.”

Up to 70 detectives were working on the case at one point, but two weeks after Shergar was stolen, the police search was scaled down. A ransom of £2 million was demanded, but it was not paid and negotiations were soon broken off by the thieves.

Theories

Speculation ran wild after the world’s press descended on the tiny village as the story sparked global headlines. The Sunday Sport once penned a spoof story that Shergar had been spotted being ridden by the missing Lord Lucan.

Other wild claims included the possibility that a Middle Eastern horse breeder had stolen him for stud and that the Mafia had undertaken the act to punish the Aga Khan over a previous sale of a horse which had gone badly.

Another claim even suggested he stolen by Colonel Gaddafi as part of a deal to supply arms to the Provisional IRA, who were engaged in an armed campaign to end British rule in Northern Ireland.

The IRA

The most likely, and most widely accepted, belief is that it was the Provos who took Shergar in a bid to hold him to ransom to fund their payment for arms and explosives for their campaign, which was estimated to cost between £2 million and £5 million a year.

To finance their campaigns, they staged bank robberies, extortion rackets and even took over legitimate businesses such as taxi firms and social cubs. They also received $3million from NORAID, donated by Irish-Americans sympathetic to the cause.

Ben Dunne, then head of the chain of Dunnes Stores. Dunne was kidnapped in 1981 for a ransom demand of £300,000. He was released unharmed after a week, though the Dunne family and the Gardaí deny a ransom of £300,000 was paid.

What happened to Shergar?

The IRA has never officially admitted any role in the theft. But in 1999, supergrass Sean O’Callaghan claimed in his autobiography the plot to steal and ransom Shergar was devised by Kevin Mallon, a leading IRA member who sat on the Army Council.

He said that very soon after the theft, Shergar had panicked and damaged his leg, which led to him being shot dead by the gang. No arrests have ever been made in relation to the theft and his body has never been recovered or identified.

Shergar was said to have been buried in Ballinamore, County Leitrim, an area notorious for its support of the IRA. In a recent Channel 4 documentary, journalist Senan Molony said he was told by a veteran of the republican movement that Shergar had been buried at sea.

He said: “On one level, it’s a surprise and another crazy theory, but if you dwell on it, you realise it makes a hell of a lot of sense. The IRA were already master gunrunners. They’d had lots of shipments of arms into Ireland, so ships were no problem to them.

“It would have a very easy thing to crane a weighty carcass onto the deck of a trawler and to put out from some fishing point north of the border that’s solidly republican. And then a big splash to take place a couple of miles off the coast.”