The Idler

URI GELLER SOLVES HISTORY’S GREATEST MYSTERIES: 6

What Happened to Shergar?

Shergar was the tragic victim of man’s tendency to despise what he cannot control. Trained to a level of perfection never attained by any other horse, Shergar was kidnapped by IRA gangsters who thought they knew about horses. When they discovered Shergar was a very different kind of creature to the average hunter, they panicked. Shouting at the terrified animal and trying to throw a bag over his head, they drove him into a frenzy. His leg was broken in the horse box, a few hundred yards from the Aga Khan’s stables on that night in February 1983. The thugs were relieved to seize the excuse to do the only thing they did efficiently - to kill.

I have always believed the terrorists were in foreign pay. This was not their usual protection-racket blundering. I feel the paymasters were probably Far Eastern gamblers, bent on subtly injuring the animal and returning him to race again well below his best.

What Happened to Shergar?

Shergar was the tragic victim of man’s tendency to despise what he cannot control. Trained to a level of perfection never attained by any other horse, Shergar was kidnapped by IRA gangsters who thought they knew about horses. When they discovered Shergar was a very different kind of creature to the average hunter, they panicked. Shouting at the terrified animal and trying to throw a bag over his head, they drove him into a frenzy. His leg was broken in the horse box, a few hundred yards from the Aga Khan’s stables on that night in February 1983. The thugs were relieved to seize the excuse to do the only thing they did efficiently - to kill.

I have always believed the terrorists were in foreign pay. This was not their usual protection-racket blundering. I feel the paymasters were probably Far Eastern gamblers, bent on subtly injuring the animal and returning him to race again well below his best.