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
Horse racing in Ireland Run over a minimum of 2 miles, National Hunt races require the horses to clear a number of obstacles. There are three types of National Hunt race: Steeplechase and Hurdle races are held each year at 23 courses, of which 3 run exclusively National Hunt races. A number of other types of horse racing take place in Ireland, including Harness racing and Endurance racing. There are 26 major racecourses in Ireland, more per head of population than any other country, with more than 350 race meetings and 2,000 races annually. More than 1.3m people visit Irish racecourses each year, with