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 following complaints concerning the oat intake of Thoroughbreds. The ban led to public outcry, especially in Ireland where some 20,000 people were believed to be employed in the embattled racing industry. Fearing further unrest, the British government gave a concession to allow the Curragh festival of the 8–10 May, finally relenting on the 20th June. In 1915, the British National Stud was based in the Curragh, becoming the Irish National Stud after independence. In the post-independence period, many efforts were made to regulate and support the horse racing industry in Ireland, and a greater effort was made to promote Irish