Shergar Shergar Shergar (3 March 1978 – c. February 1983) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. After a very successful season in 1981 he was retired to the Ballymany Stud in County Kildare, Ireland. In 1983 he was stolen from the stud, and a ransom of £2 million was demanded; it was not paid, and negotiations were soon broken off by the thieves. 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. The Aga Khan, Shergar's owner, sent the horse for training in
Gainsborough Stud was eventually renamed Gainsborough Stud in his honour. In 1981, the stud farm was bought by Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The stud farm was operated by Maktoum's company, Gainsborough Stud Management, which maintained Gainsborough Farm in central Kentucky (bought in 1984) as well as two facilities in Ireland, Wood Park Stud in Co Meath (bought from the de Burgh family in April 1989) and Ballysheehan Stud. The international operation also stood horses in a number of stud farms in the UK, Ireland and America. In all Maktoum had over 200 horses in training under a roster of ten