Taking Shergar: Thoroughbred Racing's Most Famous Cold Case

Horses in History

by Milton C. Toby

It was a cold and foggy February night in 1983 when a group of armed thieves crept onto Ballymany Stud, near The Curragh in County Kildare, Ireland, to steal Shergar, one of the Thoroughbred industry's most renowned stallions. Bred and raced by the Aga Khan IV and trained in England by Sir Michael Stoute, Shergar achieved international prominence in 1981 when he won the 202nd Epsom Derby by ten lengths―the longest winning margin in the race's history. The thieves demanded a hefty ransom for the safe return of one of the most valuable Thoroughbreds in the world, but the ransom was never paid and Shergar's remains have never been found.

In Taking Thoroughbred Racing's Most Famous Cold Case , Milton C. Toby presents an engaging narrative that is as thrilling as any mystery novel. The book provides new analysis of the body of evidence related to the stallion's disappearance, delves into the conspiracy theories that surround the inconclusive investigation, and presents a profile of the man who might be the last person able to help solve part of the mystery.

Toby examines the extensive cast of suspects and their alleged motives, including the Irish Republican Army and their need for new weapons, a French bloodstock agent who died in Central Kentucky, and even the Libyan dictator, Muammar al-Qadhafi. This riveting account of the most notorious unsolved crime in the history of horse racing will captivate serious racing fans and aficionados as well as entertain a new generation of horse racing enthusiasts.

Genres: Horse Racing

272 pages, Hardcover

First published September 24, 2018

Reviews

[M.J. Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Skillfully written and thoroughly researched account of a very sad story of the kidnapping and probable murder of a great racehorse.

[Krista · Rating 2 out of 5]

This unbiased review is based on a free ARC I received from Edelweiss.

"Taking Shergar" is Milton Toby's recap and analysis of the kidnapping and murder of Shergar. Much is unknown about Shergar's disappearance, and unfortunately, the lack of those answers is strongly felt in Toby's work. Toby maps out the world of mega horse breeding operations, the Aga Khan, the development of the Irish stud industry, and Shergar's history. What he doesn't do is really give us anything new--and as a result, without a strong argument, the book simply wanders, such as the intense focus on the Aga Khan's family history, which is only mildly relevant. Yes, the fact Shergar would ultimately be owned by a corporation would slow down response to his kidnappers, but do we really need to know the history of the Aga Khan's stables in order to understand the kidnapping?

Within its wandering, the book keeps returning to the ultimate answer, expressed in the initial pages of the book: Shergar was stolen and probably killed by members of the IRA, and probably because he was injured by inept handlers. Toby treats this as a somewhat revelatory concept, even though, as he says, there has never been any other serious suspect for this crime.

So what, ultimately, do we get from this book? Not much more than a patchwork summary of the various elements in the story.

One last detail: Perhaps this is picky of me, but I was put off right away by the author referring to Shergar as "it"--despite his quoted individuals repeatedly referring to Shergar as a "he." 1.) How anyone publishing this book could imagine horse people *not* being interested in reading it is beyond me. If so, why stick to the "it," which is the way in which non-animal people refer to creatures amongst us? 2.) As the author points out repeatedly, Shergar's job was to be a stallion for the production of descendants. Being male was an essential part of his existence in this book, the very reason for his ultimate monetary value. It therefore makes no sense to refer to the horse as a sexless "it."

So, bottom line--eh, it was so-so. I learned a little here and there, but not much that gave me more insight into the death of poor Shergar.

[Nic · Rating 4 out of 5]

On February 8, 1983, Ireland’s 1981 Horse of the Year, Shergar, was stolen from Ballymany Stud, allegedly by the Irish Republican Army for ransom. Unfortunately, talks between the thieves and Shergar’s owners ended abruptly with no ransom being paid and no return of the horse ever forthcoming. To this day, the fate of Shergar is unknown.
Milton Toby’s account of horse racing’s most infamous theft is well researched, well written, and really doesn’t bring anything new or different to what is already known and not known about the fate of Shergar. In the 30+ years since his theft, Shergar has never been found, and Toby had to explore every lead, wild theory, and bizarre attempt to locate him in order to gather enough material to fill more than 270 pages. If you are reading this book for a very thorough account of Shergar’s ownership, the theft, the IRA motivation for it, and the subsequent investigation, you’ll be quite pleased. If you are reading it for a resolution or new facts about Shergar’s whereabouts/remains, you’ll be disappointed. Sadly, we’ll probably never know what happened to the famous Irish stud, but the theory about the IRA is most likely correct.

Full review: opinionatedreviewer.wordpress.com

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shergar was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse by Great Nephew out of Sharmeen. He was foaled in March 1978, and was owned by Aga Khan. He showed some promise as a racer, winning the Epsom Derby, the Irish Derby, and other notable races. He was retired to stud in 1981. The horse was kidnapped in 1983. Thieves demanded a ransom of two million dollars, which Aga Khan refused to pay. In 1999 a supergrass, formerly in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), stated they stole the horse. The IRA has never admitted any role in the theft. There are a lot of conspiracy theories about who stole him, why, and why the ransom was not paid. There are just as many about his whereabouts and what had happened to him. Shergar was never recovered. This case hurt my horse girl heart for so many reasons, and I hope that Shergar did not meet a violent or terrifying end. The book was decent enough to read, if you are interested in the facts of the case.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was a lonely teenage girl, I remember riding my bike through the countryside near our new home in Ohio looking for Shergar. Because of his tragic and mysterious story, he's always been a favorite of mine. I have three other Shergar books, but it's been a while since I read them so I can't say how much of this was new and how much was already hashed over. The Mobius stuff, while very odd, certainly didn't sound new to me. I was also thrown by the back and forth on the timeline. I actually really like this in fiction books but it was jarring here. I'm still debating whether to read the Appendix in the back from the Shergar Syndicate, but otherwise I'm moving on. I liked the book, but it could have used better editing. And more pictures. And color pictures.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew nothing of Shergar or his kidnapping when I bought this book. If you're looking for a book about horse racing, this isn't it; only a few pages are reserved for Shergar's racing career. What does follow is an intriguing account of the kidnapping of one of Ireland's most famous horses - and what little leads police had.

You learn a lot about Ireland during the 1970s and 1980s and get a healthy dose of history on the IRA. It's somewhat frustrating to read because you'd think at some point police would get a lead and follow some trail.

Milton Toby is a master storyteller, having written several books about horse racing's more curious incidents, and he doesn't disappoint with yet another fascinating event.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was well written when you consider the lack of actual information we have on the kidnapping even after all these years. I found it more interesting from a political standpoint than a horse racing standpoint because he goes so deep into the IRA information but I think that probably needs to be talked about when it comes to this because of the information pointing more toward the IRA than anyone else. One thing I feel may have been missing is digging deeper into how they knew he wasn't taken out of Ireland since it felt like the story just glossed over that part other than saying they thought he hadn't been.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I agree with another reviewer regarding this book's presentation of IRA involvement, this is a really good book, whether you don't know anything, the basics, or have looked into Shergar's death before.

[Malcolm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Horse racing is an unusual sport, existing primarily to demonstrate the strength and quality of the bloodstock (as in animal breeding) industry where the ability of a horse to run and sometimes to jump becomes evidence of its worth for breeding. It is odd also in that thoroughbreds have almost no use beyond racing, meaning that there is little value added to other industries from this industry. And yet it retains enormous cultural cache, where the real value lies in the economics of breeding, not racing, as some horses are granted huge values and stud fees can put many workers annual incomes to shame…..

All of this makes the theft of 1981’s star of the British and Irish track (and one of the 20th century’s most successful horses) such big news, when in February 1983 armed men forced staff at a stud near Kildare to hand over Shergar. Shergar had been the season’s star, winning all but one of its races by a large margin, including the Derby by around an unheard of 10 lengths. The horse was never seen again, at least knowingly by anyone other than the thieves. Not only that, inquiries, rewards and all turned up no clear of who stole it or what happened to it.

Milton Toby sets out to unravel this mystery, presenting it as a true crime cold case with Shergar the victim. It becomes a tale of conspiracy, rumour, ineptitude, ambition, wealth, skullduggery and anti-colonial politics. Toby adheres firmly to the position that the theft was carried out by a faction within the Provisional Irish Republican Army as a fund raising effort to support arms sales, a view for which there has long been suspicion, but little if any firm evidence making this a case of assertion. He doesn’t help his case by failing to be clear about how and where the IRA might have decided to get involved and it is not until very late in the piece that it becomes clear that what he means is that it is most likely to have been mid-level IRA operatives seeking advancement, and not an official IRA action.

Unfortunately it is not entirely clear what the book is, or rather the book is too many things. It is a true life cold case inquiry, but it also explores a wide range of issues spinning off from the theft, in part the result of the cultural power of the industry and Shergar’s celebrity status, as well as digging into the tangled legalities of insurance in this kind of case. In the midst of all this we learn very little the size and shape of the Irish bloodstock industry (the very reason why Shergar mattered) although the conclusion includes brief commentary on the potential implications of the loss of such as high status stallion. Toby also has a tendency to wander off on tangents – such as the two pages on the 1982 Hyde Park bombing by the IRA that killed three soldiers and several horses, which has some direct relevance – but elsewhere I got the feeling that the additional information was a factoid he’d come across and just wanted to include because it was ‘kind of interesting’. This is a sign of one of the books most frustrating elements: it needs a really good editor. It is repetitive, including making the same point in different ways within a few pages of each other, or time and time again throughout the entire text.

Shergar’s story is a fabulous mystery, and I really wanted to like this more just like I really wanted to put the event in the context of the British and Irish racing industry in its widest sense. Much as I enjoyed the weirdness of some of the aspects of the story I’m afraid I finished up being disappointed by its telling.