IT is now more than 33 years since the great racehorse Shergar (IRE) (Great Nephew-Sharmeen by Val de Loir) was stolen by masked gunmen from the Aga Khan’s Ballymany Stud in Ireland, never to be seen again. The Shergar case ranks as perhaps the most bizarre unsolved mystery in thoroughbred racing and breeding history.
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Though no one was ever charged and no trace of any remains was ever found, it was widely believed the Irish Republican Army was behind the abduction and several subsequent ransom demands designed to raise funds to purchase arms. Shergar’s loss to the breeding world after just one season at stud was an incalculable one and may well have robbed the international thoroughbred industry of a stallion destined to be a breed shaper.
The theft occurred on the evening of February 8, 1983 just a week before Shergar was due to begin covering his second book of mares at Ballymany Stud near the famous Curragh racetrack. With no security in place, the abduction of Shergar was a relatively easy process as a vehicle towing a two-horse float was driven into the stud’s main yard.
Masked men, estimated to be at least six in number, then went to the nearby home of Shergar’s groom James Fitzgerald and took him at gunpoint to the stallion’s box to help load Shergar on to the float. James Fitzgerald was then forced into another vehicle, which drove out of the stud with the float.
After being driven around for about three hours, Fitzgerald was thrown out of the car only seven miles from the stud, having been given a password the thieves could use in later negotiations. The reporting of Shergar’s abduction to the police for various reasons was delayed for some hours by which time the trail was cold.
In the days that followed several people involved with the stallion received calls demanding payment of various substantial sums to ensure Shergar’s return but all came to nothing. Shergar’s eventual fate is still unknown, although some have speculated the highly-strung stallion may have been killed with hours of his theft after he played up on the small float. Another unsubstantiated claim by a former IRA member suggested the horse was machine gunned to death.
Syndicated for a European record figure of £10m to a high powered group of international breeders including Paul Mellon, Walter Haefner and Robert Sangster as well as the Aga Khan, Shergar’s disappearance was to trigger a number of insurance claims complicated by the fact no remains were found to confirm his death and by some syndicate members insuring only for death without a separate theft cover.
Shergar’s breeding SHERGAR’S potential to become one of the great stallions of his time was undoubted as his racing record was truly exceptional and this was backed up by a high quality pedigree tracing back to the brilliant mare Mumtaz Mahal, his seventh dam. Great Nephew (Honeyway-Sybil’s Niece by Admiral’s Walk), Shergar’s sire, was champion sire in the UK in 1975 and 1981 respectively, the years when his Derby-winning champions Grundy and Shergar were three year-olds. Great Nephew left 39 stakes winners, other notables including Mrs Penny, Nikoli, Tolmi and Carotene.
He also had considerable success as a broodmare sire with his daughters producing 61 black type winners, among them crack Australasian horse Our Waverley Star. While Grundy had a good deal of success as a sire Great Nephew failed to establish his own branch of the Fairway male line, a situation which may have changed had Shergar had a longer stud career.
Great Nephew, though, made a considerable contribution to the breed although as a racehorse he was perhaps a little below the best of his age, his most important wins coming in the Prix du Moulin and the Prix Dollar although seconds in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, the Lockinge Stakes and the Eclipse Stakes may give a better indication of his racing class.
A bay with four white feet and a blaze, Shergar bore a strong resemblance to his maternal grandsire Val de Loir, Champion Sire in France in 1973, 1974 and 1975 and also Champion Broodmare Sire there in 1983 and 1984. This French Derby winner also topped the UK broodmare sires’ list in 1981 thanks to Shergar, while influential sire Green Dancer is another of the 62 stakes winners left by his daughters.
Shergar’s dam Sharmeen (Val de Loir-Nasreen by Charlottesville) was unraced but her breeding was impeccable and apart from Shergar she produced three other winners, multiple stakes winner Shernazar (Busted), a successful sire and broodmare sire, Sharamana (Darshaan), winner of the Prix Minerve, and Sheradhoun, winner of three good races in France. Sharmeen is a half-sister to Prix Greffulhe winner Naasiri (Sassafras), while another unraced half-sister, Nilmeen (Right Royal), also became a good producer, her best foal Nediym (Shareef Dancer) becoming a successful sire in Queensland.
He is now remembered as the father of the brilliant General Nediym, even more successful as a sire. Nasreen, Shergar’s second dam, was truly bred in the purple by successful sire Charlottesville, winner of the French Derby and Grand Prix de Paris, while her dam Ginetta won the French 1000 Guineas, the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp and other feature races in France. Ginetta was by successful sire and broodmare sire Tulyar, a British Horse of the Year and winner of the English Derby, Doncaster St Leger, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Eclipse Stakes. Ginetta’s dam is the speedy Diableretta (Dante) the best two year-old filly of her year in Britain.
Diableretta’s dam Dodoma, a three-quarter sister to the famous producer Sun Princess, is a half-sister to breed shaping sire Nasrullah and herself produced useful Australian sires Nilo (Nearco) and Jambo (Felicitation). Dodoma’s second dam is “The Flying Filly”, Mumtaz Mahal. Shergar’s racing record ALMOST everything in Shergar’s breeding background suggested he was a wonderful stallion prospect after he showed truly exceptional ability on the racetrack.
Trained at Newmarket by Michael (later Sir Michael) Stoute, Shergar made his debut as a two year-old in the 23-runner Kris Plate (one mile) at Newbury in September 1980, winning with his head on his chest by four lengths. The ease of his victory encouraged Shergar’s owner and trainer to give the inexperienced colt one more start for the season against much sterner opposition in the William Hill Futurity-Gr.1 over a mile at Doncaster. Shergar proved not quite up to the task to finish a well-beaten second to Beldale Flutter (Accipiter).
At the end of the season Timeform rated Beldale Flutter on 127, while Shergar was assessed at 122. It was no disgrace to be beaten by Beldale Flutter who went on at three years to add to his winning record the Benson and Hedges Gold Cup-Gr.1 and the Dante Stakes-Gr.2, performances that lifted his Timeform rating to 130. Shergar meanwhile went to another level again over longer distances as a three year-old to become Europe’s Horse of the Year in 1981 with a series of stunning performances, which saw him end the season with a very high Timeform rating of 140, a figure exceeded by only a handful of other horses.
After taking the Classic Trial (10f) at Sandown by 10 lengths, Shergar won the Chester Vase (12.3f) by 12 lengths in his cavalier lead up to the coveted English Derby (12f) at Epsom where he went out as the raging hot favourite. Shergar’s performance at Epsom was devastating. He demolished a talented field to score easing down by 10 lengths, the widest margin of victory ever recorded in the Derby.
After the stunning performance it seemed only a formality for Shergar to next add the Irish Sweeps Derby (12f) to his imposing record and he again toyed with his opposition to win unchallenged by four lengths. Next Shergar’s mettle was tested against older horses at weight-for-age in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes-Gr.1 (12f) at Ascot. While the Great Nephew colt won with the authority expected it was not one of his greatest performances.
Blessed with an electric turn of foot, Shergar was next asked to attempt his greatest stamina challenge by contesting the oldest classic, the St Leger (14.6f) at Doncaster. Before the race, rumours began circulating that all was not well with the colt and what ever their substance his performance at Doncaster seemed to suggest they may have been right or that he simply did not get the distance when he could finish only a distant fourth to Cut Above (High Top).
By the time of the St. Leger Shergar had already been syndicated for stud duties and in view of his disappointing effort at Doncaster any thoughts of going to Paris for a finale in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe were shelved and Shergar was retired from racing. Shergar’s stud record SHERGAR stood his only season at stud in Ireland in 1982, covering by today’s standards a very small but select group of 44 mares.
This resulted in 35 named foals and 28 raced to produce 15 winners and another six placed performers. Best of his five stakes winners was a horse we saw race in Australia, the stallion Authaal (ex Galletto, by Nijinsky) who did what his father could not, taking the Doncaster St Leger before coming to Australia to add two more Gr.1 events to his record, the AJC Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the VATC Underwood Stakes. Authaal was sold to stand in Japan but died after only a few seasons, leaving just one stakes winner, Ibuki Rajo Mon.
Shergar’s other black type winners were the fillies Maysoon, Tashtiya and Dolka (ex Dumka) plus the colt Tisn’t, while his other winners included stakes placegetters Sherkraine and Shibil (ex Hilo Girl by Pago Pago). With almost 18% stakes winners-to-starters Shergar’s one small crop produced exceptional figures, suggesting he could have developed into one of the best international sires of his time. Shergar’s limited number of broodmare daughters did not perform quite as well as producers, leaving only one stakes winner, Adieu au Roi (Kenmare) and four stakes placegetters from 86 starters.
One daughter, Shujun, left Australian winners Shandon (Geiger Counter), Beaver Creek (Bluebird) and Shevlins (Monde Bleu), while another to leave a winner here was March Rose, dam of Sic ’Em Rosy, by Bellotto. None of these winners were of great class. It is, of course, pure guesswork to speculate on how good a sire Shergar may have proved had he enjoyed a stud career of normal length but the indications provided by his only small crop suggest he may have made a considerable impact on the breed. n
