The Backstory: How Do You Kidnap a Race Horse?

Derby winning thoroughbread disappeared into thin air. That's next on the backstory. We're back with the backstory, all right. Even if you only see one or two horse races a year, it's really fun to watch those magnificent, kind of skittish animals run. And the money attached to them is absolutely insane, including breeding them, buying them, training them, racing them. But a winner is the stuff of legend. Let's go back

to the nineteen forties. Ali Khan was the son of Aga Khan, the third, a major presence in the world of thoroughbred horse racing. Ali was the ultimate playboy, betting and sometimes marrying movie stars like Grita Hayworth, his second wife. But above all, he was a famous breeder and owner of magnificent race horses. When his father passed him over as Aga Khan the Fourth, giving the title to Ali's son, he continued to live the life of a playboy horse breeder,

and he was incredibly successful. Race horses were in the family's blood, and Ali's son, who became Agakon the Fourth when he was just twenty years old, was now the billionaire leader of the world's Ismali Muslims, and he was also a major breeder of thoroughbreds like his father and his grandfather. On top of that, he had a degree from Harvard and had competed in the Olympics as a skier,

kind of accomplished. Later on he was active in resort development and charity work, but horses were his first passion. By nineteen eighty one, the prize possession of Agakon the Fourth was the powerful race horse Sugar. That year he was entered into the Epsom Derby, Britain's most prestigious race. He won by an incredible ten lengths, a record that still stands today. One radio commentator said there's only one horse in it. You'd need a telescope to see the rest.

Shugar was called one of the greatest horses ever to run in the Derby. He went on to win other major races that year, including the Irish Derby. He'd been bred in Ireland, so he was a national hero there. To make the most of his investment, the Aga Khan sold shares of Shugar keeping for himself around twenty percent, but he cleared about twelve million dollars or thirty four million in today's money. It was time to put Shurgar

out to stud. In late nineteen eighty one, he was retired, set for the delightful life of a stud horse, with every expectation that he would sire a generation of champion race horses. Shargar's studfee was one hundred thousand dollars, about the same as America's triple Crown winner Secretariat a few years earlier. Nineteen eighty two was a good season for him. He sired thirty five foals, but then it all came

crashing down. Now it's early nineteen eighty three. Sugar is in his stable in Newbridge, Ireland, on a cold, dark winter night in February. Problem is a stable is not well protected. A horse trailer arrives at the stud buildings at eight thirty p m. Inside his house, Shugar's groom, James Fitzgerald thinks he hears a car in the yard, but then hearing nothing else, he forgets about it. Ten minutes go by, there's a knock at the door. Bernard, James Fitzgerald's son, answers it. It's a man in a

police uniform wearing a face mask. He asks for James, but then knocks young Bernard to the floor. James comes into the room and sees his son on the floor. Suddenly, three more men shove their way into the house. They hold the family at gunpoint in the kitchen. James says they were exceptionally calm and well organized. Several of the armed men forced James to lead them to Shurgar's stable. Once there, they load the thoroughbread into a trailer and

drive off. James is forced into another vehicle and driven around for about three hours before he's thrown out of the car. The crime shocks everyone. How do you kidnap a champion racehorse who was unheard of before? And since the crime was front page news around the world. The AGA Khan's uncle said, the whole thing seems like fiction.

The kidnappers told James the Groom they wanted three million dollars for the horse's return, close to ten million dollars in today's money, but the horse was valued at thirty five million in today's money. Now the problem is the horse, as we know, is now owned by a syndicate, and while the Aga Khan holds a large share, the group decides no ransom will be paid. The cops make little progress. Landowners and farmers try to help out, and even mediums

and psychics are called in. But there's nothing, no leads, no evidence, no viable suspects, not even a body. James Murphy, the Chief Superintendent of the Irish Police, at one point says at a news conference, a clue that is something we haven't got. As time passes, it seems pretty clear the horse must be dead. The big British insurance company, Lloyd's of London, agrees to pay out millions of dollars to the owners. But this magnificent animal has vanished without

a trace. It's been forty two years and Sugar has never been seen again. Soon suspicion points at the Irish Republican Army, which was in a violent struggle with US Britain at the time. Insiders tell the story that the kidnappers knew very little about these powerful but fragile horses. They had a rough time managing the high spirited stallion.

They claim he was killed only a few hours after the kidnapping, possibly after injuring himself, and that he was buried in a remote area, but his final resting place has never been found. The case remains formally open. Hope you like the Backstory with Patty Steele, Please leave a review. I would love it if you'd subscribe or follow for free to get new episodes delivered automatically, and feel free to dm me if you have a story you'd like me to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty Steele and on

Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The Backstory is a production of iHeartMedia, Premier Networks, the Elvis Durand Group, and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free to reach out to me with comments and even story suggestions. On Instagram at Real Patty Steele and

on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the backstory with Patty Steele, the pieces of history you didn't know you needed to know.