in the day ... 8th february 1983

A fairly regular snippet about stuff from the past. A little jaunt down memory lane and perhaps even beyond, if you like. 

The older I get the more I hear myself saying that awful phrase - the one I used to hear older people saying - ‘back in the day’. When I would hear an ‘oldie’ say it I used to think ... ‘Ah shush about the olden days already. Focus on today, mate’. Now I hear myself saying it more & more. C’est la vie!

Giddyup! ... 8th February 1983.

I was 13 when Shergar was kidnapped. 

I still remember it like it was yesterday. First off let's get a few vital details out of the way. Shergar wasn't just a horse. He was a top horse. It'd be like Black Caviar just disappearing. Poof! Up in smoke. Gone. 


It begs the question - how the heck do you steal a horse? And the inevitable follow up question - why the heck do you steal a horse?

Shergar was owned by the Aga Khan and he (the horse, not the Aga) won the Epsom Derby (think the UK's Melbourne Cup) by 10 lengths. That's pretty much like a horse crossing the line at Flemington whilst the others are just coming round the final bend. In 1981 Shergar was the European Horse of the Year. In 1983 he disappeared. Just like that. He had already retired and had produced 35 foals in his first year alone. Each sold for anything up to $100,000. When he went missing there were another 55 lady horses lined up to 'meet' him. Nice work if you can get it! 


& then he disappeared from the Ballymany Stud in Ireland.

On the morning he was nicked the stud owners were held hostage with machine-guns, one was kidnapped and driven around for a few hours whilst they nicked his horse. Shergar was loaded into a horse box and he disappeared. It was huge news. HUGE. Front page of every paper. For weeks. Ransom demands were made, but no money was ever paid. Detectives were assigned by the bucketload. The media went nuts. The IRA was widely blamed. A photo of Shergar was sent to the media. An insurance policy of almost $20million was mentioned. 


But Shergar was never seen again. Nor was anyone arrested or charged. Ever. It remains a complete mystery. Despite the passage of time, and the inevitable loosening of tongues and relaxing of consciences, no-one has talked. No body was ever found. Shergar simply disappeared. Poof! Any one of the kidnappers could have made a mint by talking - 60 Minutes would pay big bucks. He (or she) would have easily got a gig on Dancing with the Stars or I'm a Celebrity get me out of here.... But no. Nothing. Complete silence. For almost 30 years.

There were many official 'Shergar legacies' - a race was named after him, a statue unveiled at a race-track. 


& then there was the one and only schoolboy legacy. Back in the day, anytime we had a dodgy kebab after an evening in the pub ... it was always speculated that it could be 'Shergar'. And who knows, it could very well have been. 


(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)