Negotiations were conducted with the thieves, but the gang broke off all communication after four days when the syndicate did not accept as true the proof provided that the horse was still alive.

[4] Shergar's dam was Sharmeen, a seventh-generation descendant of Mumtaz Mahal, a horse that is described by the National Sporting Library as "one of the most important broodmares of the 20th Century".

Set over a 1+1⁄2 mile (2.4 km) course at the Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey, the Derby is a Group 1 flat race open to three-year-old Thoroughbred colts and fillies.

[31][32] By the time the Irish Derby was run at the Curragh, on 27 June 1981, Swinburn was suspended following an infringement at Royal Ascot, so Piggott returned to ride Shergar.

[38][39] Shergar had a break of almost a month until he ran in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes at Ascot on 25 July 1981.

The race was slow-paced to start and Shergar was boxed in by other horses, but found a way out by the time the leaders had reached the final straight, and accelerated to win by four lengths.

[42] Shergar was running well in the race, although the soft ground was not to his liking, but on the final straight, when Swinburn tried to get him to accelerate to the front, the horse would not respond.

Unwilling to risk the horse without knowing what had happened at the St Leger, the Aga Khan did not enter him into the Arc, and instead retired him to the Ballymany Stud, near the Curragh.

All through the spring and summer he completely dominated European racing in a very dramatic manner, and after he had run so uncharacteristically in the St. Leger, we knew something had gone wrong, but we didn't know what it was, so it was an easy decision to retire him before the Arc.

"[50] At the start of February 1983 Shergar's second stud season was about to begin, and he was in high demand, and had a full book of 55 mares to cover.

On arrival back at Ballymany, he rang Ghislain Drion to inform him of the theft, and urged him not to call the police because of the threats that had been made.

Drion attempted to reach the Aga Khan in Switzerland to inform him, then rang Stan Cosgrove, Shergar's vet, who was also a shareholder.

He was unsure whether Shergar would be returned even if the money was paid, and concerned that, if the kidnappers' demands were met, it would make every high-value horse in Ireland a target for future thefts.

[65] The first phone call from the thieves was on the night Shergar was stolen;[b] Fitzgerald was not back at Ballymany by that time, and had not had the chance to tell the news of the theft to anyone.

Maxwell was told that the negotiations would only be with three British horse racing journalists, Derek Thompson and John Oaksey of ITV and Peter Campling from The Sun.

[29][72] Although a committee put together by the syndicate to co-ordinate their response later considered that this was a hoax, Toby argues that as the call about the theft preceded Fitzgerald's return to Ballymany—i.e.

before anyone knew about the theft—and as the callers used the code phrase "King Neptune" in their communications, it is more likely that the calls, and the ensuing focus on the high-profile activity in Belfast, were undertaken to distract the authorities from what was happening with Shergar elsewhere.

[90] The initial police investigation was hindered by the eight-hour lapse before the crime was reported, and by a local Thoroughbred auction, which meant several horseboxes were travelling in the area.

[93] His comment about a lack of leads was not truthful, as Murphy withheld much information from the media,[83] including the police finding the magazine for a Steyr MPi 69 submachine gun, which suggested a link to an IRA active service unit in South Armagh.

[52][95] Several people claiming to have paranormal powers contacted the Gardaí with their thoughts; Murphy reported that "diviners, clairvoyants and psychic persons—they're in three different categories—they must be running into the fifties now".

The huge police search of possible hiding places for Shergar—by the Gardaí in the Irish Republic and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) in Northern Ireland—found no trace of the horse or horsebox, but several IRA caches of arms and explosives were uncovered, leading to the loss of several safe houses.

[100] With no definite news of Shergar's whereabouts, and with the Gardaí limiting the information they released to the press, the media took to speculation to cover the story.

Baerlein observes that in reporting the Shergar case, "the press speculation was remarkable for its enthusiasm and its inaccuracy over a long period of time".

[101] Such media claims included that Shergar had been stolen by Colonel Gaddafi as part of a deal to supply arms to the IRA;[52] that, according to the tabloid newspaper Sunday Sport, Shergar was spotted being ridden by the missing Lord Lucan;[102] that a Middle Eastern horse breeder had stolen him for stud;[103] and that the Mafia had undertaken the act to punish the Aga Khan over a previous sale of a horse which had gone badly.

[104] Eight weeks after Shergar was stolen, Stan Cosgrove was approached by senior detectives within the Gardaí who introduced him to Dennis Minogue, a horse trainer.

[109] Cosgrove was insured with Norwich Union (now part of Aviva), who refused to pay, even when it became clear that Shergar was probably dead; the company's liability was £144,000.

[113] During the 1980s, the Irish republican movement followed the Armalite and ballot box strategy, in which electoral success was chased by Sinn Féin, while an armed struggle was continued by the IRA.

[129] According to O'Callaghan, in August 1983, in an effort to raise the money that they failed to do with the Shergar theft, Fitzgerald and his group attempted to kidnap the businessman Galen Weston at his home in County Wicklow.

Several sources, including O'Callaghan, The Sunday Telegraph and The Observer consider it likely that the body was buried near Aughnasheelin, near Ballinamore, County Leitrim.

[142] The story of Shergar's theft was made into a television play with Stephen Rea and Gary Waldhorn, broadcast in March 1986 as part of the BBC's Screen Two anthology series.