Abby Connolly
Did you know that there is a famous missing horse case that is still open? The case surrounds Shergar, a stunning racehorse from Ireland that won two major races and stole the hearts of many horse racing lovers.
Unfortunately, not long after his big victories, Shergar was taken from his stable and was never seen again.
Shergar was born in Kildare, Ireland, in 1978. He was owned by the Aga Khan IV and trained by Michael Stoute. Shergar was known for his surprisingly quiet and content personality as a stallion. He also bonded with his jockey, Walter Swinburn.
Shergar had an extremely successful racing season in 1981, winning in the Derby at Epsom and the Irish Derby. By the end of his racing career, people were offering Aga Khan over $30,000,000 for the rights to breed Shergar.
After one miraculous season, Aga Khan turned down the lucrative offers and retired Shergar to stud and live in the stables at Ballymany Stud in Ireland in October of 1981.
But then, in 1983, a horrible incident happened that still has people searching for answers today.
On February 8th, 1983, Jim Fitzgerald, the head groom at Ballmany Stud, remembers three masked men entering his home, demanding that he take them to Shergar in the stables. One of the men had a pistol and was very aggressive.
The intruders ordered Jim to guide Shergar into a horse box or horse trailer attached to a truck, and he watched as the intruders devastatingly drove away with him, unable to see which direction they went in.
Then, the men returned and ordered Jim to lie on the floor of a van with a covering over his face. The men drove Jim around for four hours and eventually dropped him off in a village about 20 miles away from home. They told him not to contact the police or his family would be harmed.
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