S H E R G A R

Shergar’s name is etched in racing folklore as much for his headline-grabbing disappearance as for his exceptional performances on the racecourse, the most scintillating of those being his recordbreaking victory in the 1981 Derby and imperious triumph in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot the following month.

Infamously kidnapped following his retirement to stud in Ireland, the Aga Khan’s colt was one of the finest Derby winners of the 20th century and without argument the best racehorse of his generation with a lofty Timeform rating of 140.

Trained by Sir Michael Stoute in Newmarket, Shergar won impressively on his first start as a two-year-old before finishing second to the more experienced Beldale Flutter on his only other outing in what is now the Futurity Trophy.

Having been rated 31st among his peers in the 1980 European Free Handicap (now World Thoroughbred Rankings), Shergar commenced his Classic season as a 33/1 ante-post chance for the Derby. Those odds tumbled after a 10-length victory in Sandown’s Classic Trial which was followed by a 12-length demolition of the field in the Chester Vase.

Shergar lined up at Epsom as the 10/11 favourite for Derby glory. He did not disappoint his supporters as he once again accelerated away from his rivals to register a stunning 10-length success - the widest winning margin in the long history of the race.

With the Epsom Classic in the bag, Shergar went to The Curragh and added the Irish Derby, before routing his elders in Britain’s premier all-age middle-distance contest, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.

The stage was set for an autumn hurrah in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp but in an unexpected twist, connections decided to take in the St Leger at Doncaster. The extended mile and three quarters of the world’s oldest Classic proved beyond Shergar’s stamina reserves and he could fare no better than fourth.

That defeat was to be Shergar’s final race. Valued at £10 million (a huge amount then so one can only begin to imagine what his modern day value would have been), the colt retired to the Aga Khan’s Ballymany Stud in Ireland, but on February 8, 1983, hooded gunmen seized the stallion.

A £2 million ransom was demanded and refused.

Shergar’s fate remains a mystery, but he is remembered in many ways around the world, including today at Ascot, with the world’s premier jockeys’ competition honouring the greatest racehorse of the 1980s.