40 YEARS ON
Shergar The first half of 1981 was momentous for racing and indeed sport in general in Britain.
Beginning at the Cheltenham Festival, where 11-year-old Sea Pigeon claimed his second Champion Hurdle under a masterful John Francome ride, to the first-ever London Marathon, to Bob Champion and Aldaniti overcoming all the odds at Aintree to win the Grand National and on to Ricky Villa’s mastery for Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup Final replay, it truly had it all. That remarkable
sporting year would continue in no uncertain terms at Epsom Downs thanks to a horse called Shergar.
Trained by Michael Stoute in Newmarket, Shergar won impressively on his first start as a two-year-old at Newbury, before finishing second to the more experienced Beldale Flutter on his only other juvenile outing in the Futurity Stakes at Doncaster.
