Remembering that glorious Derby and the Shergar mystery

As tributes are paid to the Aga Khan following his death at the age of 88, the revered owner-breeder will always be associated with his mighty colt Shergar, the spectacular winner of the 1981 Derby.

But the Shergar story went on to run much deeper than that, with the horse being kidnapped from Ballymany Stud in Ireland. He was never found and it is a puzzle that will probably never be solved.

Shergar was lionised in the racing world for the manner of his Epsom triumph under the teenage Walter Swinburn, and to this day his winning margin of 10 lengths stands as a record for a race first run in 1780.

The Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the Ismaili sect of Shia Muslims, landed the much-sought-after prize another four times, with Shahrastani, Kahyasi, Sinndar and Harzand, but none of them could match the impact made by his first winner.

The big bay with the white blaze had secured his position among the 20th-century greats by the time the curtain came down on his career at the end of the 1981 season, but the drama was far from over.

On the night of February 8, 1983, a foggy evening, intruders broke into the Aga Khan’s Ballymany Stud in County Kildare and kidnapped the horse.

It is generally accepted the IRA were the culprits, that his abductors were ill-equipped to control a thoroughbred stallion, and that he was killed shortly afterwards. But his remains have never been found.

Shergar’s racing career was guided by Sir Michael Stoute, who sent him out to win six of his eight races, taking the Sandown Classic Trial by 10 lengths and the Chester Vase by 12 on the way to Epsom, where he started a 10-11 chance and won in a stroll.

With Swinburn suspended he was ridden by Lester Piggott to win the Irish Derby by four lengths.

But the young rider was back in the saddle for another four-length victory against the older generations in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.

Both Shergar’s defeats came at Doncaster, where he closed his racing career with an inexplicable loss at long odds-on in the St Leger.

The wonder horse was syndicated for stud duties and arrived at Ballymany with everything ahead of him.

But he was to become one of the more celebrated victims of ‘the Troubles’ when armed raiders stole him one winter’s night after forcing groom Jim Fitzgerald to follow instructions at gunpoint.

With the kidnappers apparently unaware the Aga Khan was no longer the sole owner of the horse, demands for payment of a massive ransom came to nothing. It all ended in tragedy, of course, and it remains a mystery as to where the horse’s remains are buried, in some unmarked grave with no plaque or statue to celebrate his glory.

Periodic ‘finds’ have unearthed nothing more than skeleton impostors; as any racing fan could attest, there was only one Shergar.

After all this time, Shergar’s name is more pertinently linked with that of another infamous absentee, Lord Lucan, than with the Derby.

The racing world, however, has not forgotten. The abiding memory will forever be of Epsom in 1981, and that wonderful moment rounding Tattenham Corner when Swinburn flicked the switch and the afterburners powered on.

All that disappeared that day was the opposition as Shergar cleared away, his rivals withering to dots in the distance.

“There’s only one horse in it… you need a telescope to see the rest!” said BBC radio commentator Peter Bromley. You certainly did.