Shergar!
For my first point on my map i traveled to the birthplace of the famous irish racehorse, Shergar. this meant going to the Gilltown stud in killcullen.
Shergar was a Stallion owned and bred by Prince Karim Aga Khan IV in 1978.
Shergar's first race as a racehorse at the 1981 Guardian Classic Trial, which he won by 10 lengths. He would follow this up with another great win when he won well at the Chester Vase race by 12 lengths.
Although he only raced eight times, Shergar won six of those races and left an major mark on the racing world, which he dominated in 1981. Aside from the Epsom Derby, Shergar also won two other premiere events that year: Irish Derby Stakes and the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes. For his first year, Shergar was honored as Europe's Horse of the Year in 1981.
With those wins, Shergar headed to the Epsom as the favorite to win. The odds makers proved to be right as Shergar grabbed the lead early and never looked back in winning the Epsom Derby. In his next race, the Irish Derby Stakes, Shergar won the race so easily that one commentator noted that Shergar was merely in an exercise canter. Shergar was hailed as an Irish national hero after that.
As a businessman, his owner Aga Khan offered 34 shares in Shergar for sale at £250,000 each and kept six shares for himself. Shergar's valuation soared to £10 million, a record at that time.
Unfortunately, Shergar's great value may have led to his kidnapping in 1983 from ballymany stud near Curragh in Ireland. He had only spent one season at stud before the kidnapping had happened. most people believe thatit was the IRA who were behind the kidnapping. A ransom demand of £2 million was made later. But when negotiations fell through, the kidnappers cut off all communication and Shergar was never seen again.
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