What happened to Shergar?

Having won the Derby by 10 lengths – still the widest winning margin in the history of the race – in 1981, Shergar was, for a time, the most celebrated racehorse in the world. Following his last race, in the St. Leger Stakes at Doncaster, later that year, he was retired to Ballymany Stud, in Co. Kildare, Ireland, where he was syndicated for £10 million.

However, less than two years later, on a murky night in February, 1983, Shergar was abducted by a gang of masked gunmen, believed to belong to the Irish Republic Army (IRA), and never seen again. Ransom negotiations – conducted, bizarrely, by British horse racing journalist Derek Thompson – followed, but ended abruptly with an anonymous, but coded, message that Shergar had died ‘in an accident’.

Exactly what happened to Shergar remains an abiding mystery. He may well have died, as suggested by more than one former IRA member, in a hail of machine gun bullets in a stable at a remote farm near the town of Ballinamore in Co. Leitrim – former ‘bandit country’ – near the border with Northern Ireland, after becoming distressed by his new surroundings. However, the IRA has never officially claimed responsibility for his disappearance, his kidnappers have never been officially identified and his remains have never been found.

What is a Stakes Race?

Traditionally, a ‘stakes race’ was any horse race in which some, or all, of the prize money was contributed by the owners of the horses involved. However, nowadays, all owners contribute to prize money through entry fees – calculated as a percentage of the total prize money added to stakes – so, more often than not, the term ‘stakes race’ is used to describe a Listed or Pattern race. Listed and Pattern races are the most prestigious, and valuable, types of horse races, contested by the best horses, who carry the same weight, subject to certain conditions, such as age and gender.

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) also uses the term ‘conditions stakes race’ to describe a flat race that is below Listed or Pattern status, but is not a handicap, classified stakes, maiden, selling or claiming race.

What is a Classic?

Not to be confused with its adjectival form, when used as a noun in horse racing circles, ‘Classic’ – often, but not always, capitalised – has a highly specific meaning. In Britain, the term refers to any of the five principal races for three-year-old horses, which are, in chronological order, the 2,000 Guineas, the 1,000 Guineas, the Oaks, the Derby and the St. Leger. The 2,000 Guineas, the Derby and the St. Leger are open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies, but the 1,000 Guineas and the Oaks are restricted to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. Collectively, the former three races are sometimes referred to as the ‘Triple Crown’; the last horse to win all three was Nijinsky in 1970. The term ‘Classic’ can also be used to describe equivalent races in countries other than Britain, such as the Prix du Jockey Club, also known as the French Derby.

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