40th death anniversary of Shergar-How great?

[harshthakor]

This year we mark the 40th anniversary of the kidnapping and eventual death of the equine superstar Shergar,who was tragically kidnapped for ransom by an IRA group,on February 9th,1983.

Shergar won the Sandown trial by 10 lengths and the Chester Vase by 12 lengths,to become the hottest favourite ever for the Epsom Derby,since Sir Ivor,in 1968.Before a Derby,no colt ever,treated his adversaries with such degree of contempt

Shergar romping home by a staggering margin of ten lengths,which could even have doubled had Walter Swinburn not eased up his mount,was like witnessing a supernatural phenomena.The manner or ease with which he propelled into the lead and left his rivals cold and dry took racing athleticism or thoroughbred supremacy to heights unparalleled .Shergar’s rivals literally looked like standing poles or a bunch of leaves tossed by a gale.Shergar scaled zones untranscended in the history of the Blue Riband.He was reminiscent of an emperor greeting subjects in a victory parade.

In the Irish Sweeps Derby,Shergar toyed with the rivals,treating them like a bunch of daisies,winning by 4 long looking lengths from Cut Above.

Facing older rivals in the King George 6th Diamond Stakes ,for the first time,Shergar after being blocked for a moment.pierced through late opening in the straight with dazzling acceleration ,to prevail over Madame Gay by margin of 4 lengths.Even if not winning with as much authority as at Epsom,the colt in full stride resembled a Rolls Royce car.The best in Europe wee vanquished.

Sadly,he was beaten in the St Leger,which was his preparatory race for the Arc.3 furlongs out he was on the verge of hitting the front,before he faded out.No proper explanation has been diagnosed for Shergar’s defeat.In my view the colt was over the hill,with his previous races taking the toll out of him.Still some subscribe to the opinion that Shergar was unable to stay the St Leger distance,as he was blazing away in his track workouts.

Shergar was withdrawn from the Arc,on grounds of being over the top.

Shergar was awarded a timeform rating of 140 and International classification of 138.,which was well deserved.I would bracket Shergar with the likes of Sea Bird ,Mill Reef or Nijinsky and later Dancing Brave and Sea the Stars.Shergar asserted supremacy at a scale unparalleled amongst 3 year old rivals,but against older horses did not equal the performances of Mill Reef.Nijinsky,Sea Bird or Dancing Brave.Shergar also did not impress on the clock,as much as the other greats.Shergar also did not face opponents of the stature of Mill Ref,Dancing Brave or Sea Bird.In the Epsom Derby runner up Glint of Gold was impeded by another runner Kalaglow ,giving it’s fortunes a setback o curtailing it’s prospects,early.Nevertheless to win 2 Derbies in a Waltz and produce such stunning acceleration in a King George speaks for itself.On the day of the Epsom Derby some envisage he may even have beaten the great Se Bird !Overall it would be almost impossible to accurately evaluate his ranking amongts the pantheon of greats.Racing Post in it’s ranking at 16th place has given the superstar his fair due.

I an never forget the scurrying strides of this colt or the scintillating manner he devoured his rivals.

It was the racing industry’s greatest loss to lose Shergar so early,who would probably have been a great prospect at stud,producing the highest class of progeny.

[LD73]

I could find arguments for all the categories except ‘Not in bracket of the very greatest like Mill Reef’ and before anybody questions the obvious option to go for (Best Ever Derby Performance), I would answer that with two words: Slip Anchor.

Don’t get me wrong, Shergar during that Spring/Summer burned brightly with his multiple wide margin wins but he only ran outside of his age group once in the King George and while he dispatched his rivals well enough there, I don’t think it was even close to a vintage renewal with most of his rivals having their limitations exposed at the top level before and after.

I think it is clear that he was simply over the top come the St Leger (regardless of the trip being too far) as he wouldn’t have won the race that day if it was run over 12F.

A truly wonderful racehorse with a Derby performance that will forever be remembered but to me he is just that fraction off of being an all time great.

[Ghost of Rob V]

I voted for ‘Best ever Derby performance’

While the opposition in Shergar’s wasn’t the strongest, it was still fair. Glint of Gold was no slouch.
The acceleration just after Tattenham Corner, the relentless charge and the easing down in the last furlong is just sublime to watch and timeless.

LD73’s last paragraph sums up my feelings about Shergar.

[Cancello]

Cannot vote with confidence on any category but he’d be very close to best ever Derby performance. I’d put it above Slip Anchors who I thought was flattered by a brilliant ride though he did beat a stronger field than that of Shergar ( I don’t count Kalaglow as a runner as he ran too bad to be true). Must also add that the Dante winner Beldale Flutter would have started second favourite if he hadn’t picked up an injury but as things turned out he wouldn’t of stayed anyway.

Was lucky enough to see him on the grey, raining on and off day he won the Vase and took a couple of far from perfect pics of him in the paddock with a Kodak Instamatic. Racing fans use to attend Chester in those days and there was a buzz in the air as he’d looked special when beating Kirtling at Sandown. Stoute also had Grundy’s full brother Centurius in the yard at the time who wasn’t impressive when winning the Blue Riband Trial and was now clearly not going to be a serious Derby prospect. He was owned by Jimmy McCaughey who invested heavily in the sport in the short time window from the late 70,s to early 80’s and owned Ebor winner Shaftesbury with Ryan Price. Not sure how he made his money ( may of been construction) but his fortunes went downhill quickly and he disappeared from the sport quickly and passed relatively young.

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