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)
Horse racing in Ireland establishment in 1682 of a race by Lord Kildare, with a plate of 40 pounds to the winner. In a correspondence to King Charles II in 1673, Sir William Temple stated "Horses in Ireland are a drug... we see horses bred of excellent shape, and vigour, and size, so as to reach great prices at home, and encourage strangers to find the market here." Racing became more competitive with the introduction, in 1666, under King Charles II, of the King's Plate Races, designed so as to favour a fast yet strong horse, capable of winning a 4-mile race with a