Qualla: Shergar https://qualla.com/shergar en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:12 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/7/n/shergar-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Shergar https://qualla.com/shergar Shergar: Introduction https://qualla.com/shergar/ Photo credit AugusteBlanqui, CC BY-SA 4.0. Three weeks after Shergar won the 1981 Epsom Derby, the commentator Peter Bromley shouted to listeners, 'There is only one horse in it - you need a telescope to see the rest!' Shergar had crossed the line ten lengths ahead - the largest winning margin in the 202-year history of the race. The jockey of the second-placed horse, John Matthias, said afterwards he thought he had achieved his life's ambition. 'Only then,' he said, 'did I discover there was another horse on the horizon.' Less than two years later, on the evening of 8 February 1983, three masked men entered the home of Jim Fitzgerald, the head groom at the Aga Khan's Ballymany Stud near Newbridge in County Kildare, and told him they had come for the horse.

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]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/7/n/shergar-wp/gc7n-shergar-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Shergar: Foaled at Sheshoon https://qualla.com/shergar/ Photo credit AugusteBlanqui, CC BY-SA 4.0. Shergar was foaled on 3 March 1978 at Sheshoon - the Aga Khan's private stud near the Curragh Racecourse in County Kildare. He was a Thoroughbred bay colt with a white blaze, four white socks, and a wall-blue eye. His sire was the British stallion Great Nephew; his dam, Sharmeen,...

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]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/7/n/shergar-wp/gc7n-shergar-foaled-at-sheshoon.mp3 0:06 2 full Shergar: The Derby Run https://qualla.com/shergar/ Photo credit AugusteBlanqui, CC BY-SA 4.0. On 3 June 1981, Shergar ran in the 202nd Epsom Derby. Jockey Walter Swinburn was on his back. At Tattenham Corner - the final bend of the course - Shergar took the lead and opened up a gap that did not close. Swinburn eased off in the final two furlongs. The horse still won by te...

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]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/7/n/shergar-wp/gc7n-shergar-the-derby-run.mp3 0:06 3 full Shergar: Eight Thirty in the Evening https://qualla.com/shergar/ Photo credit AugusteBlanqui, CC BY-SA 4.0. On the evening of 8 February 1983, around half past eight, three armed and masked men entered Jim Fitzgerald's house at Ballymany. One was very aggressive; the others were not rough. They told Fitzgerald they had come for Shergar and wanted two million pounds. Fitzgerald's family...

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]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/7/n/shergar-wp/gc7n-shergar-eight-thirty-in-the-evening.mp3 0:06 4 full Shergar: The Negotiations That Failed https://qualla.com/shergar/ Photo credit AugusteBlanqui, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Aga Khan was only one of thirty-five members of the syndicate that owned Shergar. The other shareholders were divided on whether to pay. Some thought paying would set a precedent that would put every high-value horse in Ireland at risk; others thought a life - even a horse's ...

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]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/7/n/shergar-wp/gc7n-shergar-the-negotiations-that-failed.mp3 0:06 5 full Shergar: Never Recovered https://qualla.com/shergar/ Photo credit AugusteBlanqui, CC BY-SA 4.0. Sean O'Callaghan, a former member of the Provisional IRA working as an informer for the Gardai since 1980, claimed in his 1999 memoir that the theft was an IRA operation conceived by Kevin Mallon while serving time in Portlaoise Prison. According to O'Callaghan and a separate 200...

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]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/7/n/shergar-wp/gc7n-shergar-never-recovered.mp3 0:06 6 full