Shoe worn by the racehorse Shergar.

Shoe worn by the racehorse Shergar,
mounted on a wooden plaque with easel support and set with engraved metal plaques, 20 by 15cm.

Provenance: The Ray Goddard Collection (lots 97 to 178). For further information on Ray Goddard and the collection see lot 144.

Shergar was a bay colt foaled in 1978 by Great Nephew out of Sharmeen (Val De Loir).e On The Range (Habitat). The colt was home-bred by H.H. The Aga Khan at his Sheshoon Stud near the Curragh racecourse in Co Kildare and trained at Newmarket by Michael Stoute.

The colt won 6 of his 8 races including a summer hat-trick of G1 races in the Derby, where is 10l winning margin still remains a record in the race; the Irish Derby; and the King George at Ascot.

Before his stud career the Aga Khan syndicated the stallion into 40 shares, valuing Shergar in 1981 at £10million. In 1983 one of the most notorious episodes in racing history unfolded when the stallion was stolen by an armed gang from the Ballymany Stud in Co Kildare and a ransom of £2million was demanded. The syndicate was not sufficiently assured that Shergar was still alive and the demand was not paid. The thieves, believed to be the IRA, although they never admitted being involved, then broke off communications abruptly. Shergar is believed to have been shot having injured his leg in the ordeal, but the body was never been recovered or identified.