‘Who Kidnapped Shergar?’ a Mint Production for RTE based on the notorious disappearance of the famous racehorse will air on Thursday 11 March 2004 at 10.15PM on RTÉ ONE.
Shergar was a racing legend, the horse that came from behind to win the Derby by a mile. Valued at £8.5million, 34 shares in the horse were sold for £250,000 each. When he was retired to stud in 1981, Shergar looked set to make his owners millions. But one night in February 1983 armed and masked men burst into his stables and kidnapped the champion stallion. Shergar was never seen again.
For two decades, Shergar’s fate has been shrouded in a fog of secrets, rumours and conspiracy theories. Groups as disparate as the New Orleans Mafia and Colonel Gadaffi have been linked to the case. The documentary ‘WHO KIDNAPPED SHERGAR?’ celebrates the remarkable career of this outstanding racehorse, and investigates who really took Shergar – and why.
‘Who Kidnapped Shergar’ is an investigation into the kidnapping of Shergar and his fate thereafter. Among those interviewed is the former leader of the IRA in the Irish Republic, Sean O’Callaghan, who reveals information provided by men he names as those responsible for the kidnapping. Chief Superintendent Sean Feely who is now in charge of the Shergar file, and Jim Fitzgerald the head groom at Ballymany Stud– who until now has never broken his silence on the events of the night of the 8 February 1983.
Produced by Mint Productions for RTÉ and Channel 4, this film mixes new interviews with extensive 16mm film reconstructions. Beginning with the whirlwind career that made Shergar a household name, the documentary follows the sequence of events that led to his kidnapping and the decades-long police investigation.
Catch Who Kidnapped Shergar? on
RTE One –Thursday 11 March 2004 at 10.15PM
Channel 4 - Thursday 18 March 2004 at 9pm
