“How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?” ~ Sherlock Holmes to Dr. Watson in The Sign of Four.
With over 40 years of writing and legal experience in the field of Thoroughbred racing, author Milton C. Toby attempts to use Sherlock Holmes’ famous dictum to solve the most notorious cold case in the sport of kings, the 1983 theft of the renowned stallion Shergar.
After winning the 1981 Epsom Derby by ten lengths — the longest margin in the race's history — and five other races, owner Aga Khan IV syndicated the stallion at Ballymany Stud in County Kildare, Ireland. Unidentified thieves demanded a £2 million ransom, which was never paid and Shergar was never found. The case remains unsolved.
Toby recounts the evidence, much of it published for the first time in this book, Taking Shergar: Thoroughbred Racing's Most Famous Cold Case, and debunks most of the conspiracy theories that surrounded the initial investigation. The historical context of the crime is discussed in detail, along with the economic and political factors at play at the time. He reveals the involvement of the Mobius Group, a parapsychology research organization, in the search for Shergar and provides a statement a retired officer of the Irish national police about the possible death of Shergar in the immediate days after the theft.
Taking Shergar also explores in detail the circumstantial evidence tying the Irish Republican Army to the theft.
“The lack of any viable alternative solutions to the Shergar puzzle makes a compelling argument that the Provos (Provincial IRA) are the culprits in horse racing’s most famous cold case,” Toby notes in his forward.
