Aga Khan IV, the rich leader of the world’s Ismaili Muslims who died on Tuesday at 88He led a busy life that included the development of the resort, charity initiative, Harvard education and a trip to the Winter Olympic Games as a skier.
One of his darkest days, however, was the kidnapping and death of his valuable horse Shegar.
SHERGAR was not just the winner of Epsom Derby, the most prestigious Britain. Was one of the largest horses ever running in a derby, Victory in 1981 as popular 10 lengths, a record that still costs.
When SHERGAR towed for his big derby victory, the radio commentator Said Peter Bromley“There is only one horse in it; You want to see the rest, you need a telescope! ”
SHERGAR won other big races, including the Irish derby, and then retired at the end of 1981. He was set to life as a cold horse, with every expectation that he would shake generations of impressive racing horses. The mare fee, which was associated with him, was $ 100,000.
In February 1983, however, armed men forced the groom, who took care of SHERGAR to lead them to a horses in Ireland Newbridge. They loaded the horses into the trailer they brought and left. SHERGAR has never been seen again.
The crime was a shock: the kidnapping of a star racing horse was almost unheard of, before and since. “The whole thing looks like a fiction,” said Prince Saduddin, Uncle Aga Khan. Crime created the leading side of the newspaper in Britain and all over the world.
The kidnappers told the groom that they wanted £ 2 million at that time, or about $ 3 million, and repeated this demand for a phone call. ) This group has decided on that No ransom would be paid.
Police investigations have made little progress. Soil owners and farmers helped in this area and were looking for their fields. The media and the psyche were called. James Murphy, the main superintendent of the Irish police, said at one point at a press conference, “Will they meet? That’s something we didn’t have. ”
As time passed, it seemed more likely that the horse was dead. Lloyd from London agreed Pay millions of pounds The owners, but it seemed a small consolation.
Soon the fingers began to point to the Irish Republican army, which at that time was involved in the violent struggle with Britain.
After an agreement on the big Friday of 1998 ended, some former IRA members began to talk about kidnapping, although their accounts were often second hand or hearing.
According to these stories, the kidnappers knew little about horses and tried to drive stallions. He was killed only a few hours after the kidnapping, they said, perhaps after being injured. It was said that he was buried in a distant area, but his final resting place has never been found and the case remains formally open.
The story continued to resonate in Britain and Ireland, with regularly new expected information and theories. “SHERGAR,” the 1999 film, which acquired a literary license with a story, was played by Ian Holm and Mickey Rourke.
Aga Khan was an aversion aversion of news and never had much to say about kidnapping. But there is no doubt that it influenced him: in 1983 he introduced his new 150-Naha superryacht, named SHERGAR.
