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 Gainsborough Stud Gainsborough Stud is a stud farm based in Woolton Hill, Newbury and owned by United Arab Emirates-based international racing operation Godolphin. It was established in 1910 to stand the racehorse Gainsborough and sold in 1981 to Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who operated it as part of his international horse breeding and racing interests, including training horses to race under his own and Godolphin's colours. On his death, Gainsborough Stud passed to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and became part of the Darley and then the Godolphin operations. Gainsborough Stud was originally called Harwood Stud, and