Shergar quickly'"; another shareholder, Lord Derby, disagreed and said "if ransom money is paid for this horse, then there is a danger of other horses being kidnapped in the years to come – and that simply cannot be tolerated". The first phone call from the thieves was on the night Shergar was stolen; Fitzgerald was not back at Ballymany by that time, and had not had the chance to tell the news of the theft to anyone. The call was to Jeremy Maxwell, a horse trainer based in Northern Ireland. The caller demanded £40,000, although this figure was later raised to
Golden Fleece (horse) and Pebbles, maintained the view for the rest of his life that Golden Fleece was the best horse he had ever ridden. In their book "A Century of Champions", John Randall and Tony Morris rated Golden Fleece as an "average" Derby winner and the seventeenth best Irish racehorse of the 20th century. Golden Fleece stood at the Coolmore Stud, Ireland for just one season. He died from complications after intestinal cancer surgery in March 1984. Golden Fleece (horse) Golden Fleece (1979–1984) was an American-bred and Irish-trained Thoroughbred race horse and sire. In a career which consisted of only four races,