Shergar stand him at the Ballymany Stud in Ireland. He arrived in October 1981, and was paraded down the main street of Newbridge, County Kildare. Milton Toby, the writer on Thoroughbred racing and equine law, judges Shergar to have been "a national hero in Ireland. ... one of the most recognizable sports personalities—horse or human—in Ireland." In 1982—his only rutting season—Shergar covered 44 mares, from which 36 foals were produced: 17 colts and 19 fillies. Of these, three won Group races, and the most successful of his progeny was Authaal. When sold as a weanling (between six months and a year)
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