Horse’s return negotiable?

Press, 11 February 1983, Page 1

Horse’s return negotiable?

NZPA Belfast The bizarre theft of the world's most valuable racehorse, Shergar, took another twist yesterday when a man claiming to represent the thieves offered to negotiate the horse’s return. He made his offer in a call to the "Belfast Newsletter” newspaper. The man said the thieves were prepared to negotiate through one of three racing journalists. If the 35-member syndicate which owns the £lO million ($22 million) stallion was prepared to talk, he said, one or all of the journalists should be at a Belfast hotel this morning (New Zealand time). The meeting was apparently set for Belfast because it is out of the jurisdiction of the Irish Republic's police. If nobody arrived, the man said, the thieves would as-

some that the owners were not interested in talks about recovering the horse. He did not say what would happen to Shergar if nobody appeared at the hotel. The journalists he named were Lord Oaksey, a writer and commentator for the “Sunday Telegraph,” a writer, Peter Campling, and a television racing presenter, Derek Thompson. Lord Oaksey and Mr Thompson have both said they are willing to go to Belfast. Mr Campling could not be reached. A spokesman for the police in Dublin said they would need to establish that the call was genuine before a decision could be made on whether the journalists, should go to Belfast. The man in charge of the hunt for Shergar, Chief Superintendent James Murphy, confirmed that the gang which snatched the horse had talked of a ran-

som. But he denied reports that any ransom demand had been made, and said he did not believe any ransom would be paid. “This animal is owned by a syndicate of people from six different countries,” he said. “It would take too long to raise the money — even if they wanted to.” The leader of the police search said the five-year-old stallion, a bay with a distinctive white blaze, could be anywhere in the country. Experts fear that with a few dabs of paint he could pass unnoticed in Ireland where horses remain an everyday sight on the roads. The police said they had no indications that the theft was the work of nationalist guerrillas seeking funds to fight British rule in Northern Ireland. Shergar was stolen from the Balljunena Stud farm,

near Newbridge, 65km from Dublin, by at least four masked gunmen. The Irish police said they had no lead on the theft of the one-time “wonder-horse" from the Ballymena Stud, owned by the Aga Khan, where Shergar was retired in 1981. The raiders locked the family of the head groom, James Fitzgerald, in a room in their house and took Mr Fitzgerald with them blindfolded in the horsebox. They released him after telling him the ransom sum they planned to demand. Shergar won a reputation as one of the world’s greatest racehorses and won the 1981 Derby at Epsom by 10 lengths, the widest margin this century. He is now owned by a syndicate holding 40 shares of £250.000 ($530,000) each, six of them by the Aga Khan.