What happened to Aga khan’s horse Shergar? Derby winner’s mysterious kidnapping explored

Prince Karim Aga Khan, the 49th hereditary imam of the Ismaili Muslim community, has died in Lisbon, Portugal, at the age of 88.

Khan was a billionaire philanthropist and a spiritual leader who was also the founder of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), which has helped improve communities around the world. His philanthropy and contribution spanned across healthcare, education, and economic development.

Shergar, one of the most legendary racehorses of all time, was the pride of the Aga Khan’s stables. A winner of the 1981 Epsom Derby by a record-breaking 10 lengths, Shergar was considered one of the greatest thoroughbreds of his generation.

But his legacy is not only one of greatness on the track but also one of the most notorious unsolved crimes in the history of horse racing. In 1983, Shergar was abducted from his stable in County Kildare, Ireland, in an incident that still has a rather mysterious ending.

On the night of Feb. 8, 1983, a group of armed men in masks broke into Ballymany Stud, the home of Shergar. The kidnappers supposedly held the head groom, Jim Fitzgerald, at gunpoint and demanded that he take them to the prized racehorse. Fitzgerald, under pressure, obliged to them.

Soon after, the perpetrators contacted the Khan’s representatives and said they would return Shergar for a ransom. The negotiations, however, were complicated. According to Medium, the kidnappers used payphones and ended conversations before they could be traced.

The owners, along with authorities, ultimately refused to pay the ransom, worrying that a payment would lead to others stealing racehorses across the world.

Though no one was ever formally charged with the crime, there is still some evidence to suggest that members of the Irish Republican Army, or I.R.A., were behind Shergar’s kidnapping. However, in the end, the horse remained missing and all investigations were met with a dead end with no clues.

More about Aga Khan and his humanitarian efforts

Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, who was born in 1936 in Geneva, Switzerland, became the imam of the Ismaili Muslim community when he was 20, succeeding his grandfather. He studied Islamic history at Harvard University and took a modern approach to leadership, stressing more about social progress and development.

As a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, he was a source of great religious and cultural authority among Ismaili Muslims.

In addition to his religious duties, he became a leader in international development, establishing the Aga Khan Foundation and the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, among other institutions.

A supporter of the arts and an enthusiastic horseman, he was also a key figure in horse breeding. His death has received tributes from world leaders, among them King Charles III and the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, who lauded his lifelong work for peace, education, and social progress.