Shergar: The unsolved mystery of the champion racehorse kidnapping

The kidnapping of Shergar, a champion thoroughbred racehorse, remains one of sports' most enduring unsolved mysteries more than 40 years after the event. A dominant figure in the early 1980s, Shergar won both the Irish Derby and the Epsom Derby in 1981, often winning by significant margins.

During the kidnapping, ransom demands ranging from 40,000 to 2 million pounds were made to the horse's owner, the Aga Khan. Sports commentator Derek Thompson acted as an unlikely hostage negotiator, handling calls from the kidnappers, who were believed to be members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during the period of The Troubles. The investigation went cold after a final communication claiming the horse had died, and Shergar was never recovered.