An Irish councillor today claimed he had discovered the head of racing legend Shergar. Tommy Foley, from Tralee in Co Kerry, said he found the remains of the stallion's skull last Saturday during an annual clean-up of a glen outside the town. ‘There were two bullet holes in the head and it was definitely a racehorse's head,’ he said. ’I was there with a farmer's son and he said it was not an ordinary horse.’
Mr Foley said the remains were hidden in a sack at the bottom of a ditch. ‘We decided to go into the extreme end of the glen this year where there was a lot of dumping taking place. It's just three miles from Tralee and it would be a place where you could conceal the remains unseen for years. There is a possibility that it was him because when Shergar was abducted there was a Kerry connection.’
Derby winner Shergar was rumoured to be kidnapped by an IRA gang from a stud in Co Kildare 17 years ago. He was stolen at night along with his groom, who was held at gunpoint in the horsebox before being released 20 miles away. Negotiations with the kidnappers continued for four days and a Polaroid photograph was provided, showing Shergar and an up-to-date copy of the Irish Times before the kidnappers suddenly fell silent. The kidnapping became one of the great mysteries of the 1980s, with constant reports of supposed sightings, but despite a nationwide search no trace of him was ever found. Insurers refused to pay out without proof of the horse's death.
Meanwhile the skull has been taken to the Gardai at Naas in Co Kildare, presumably to be tested at the Irish Equine Centre for its DNA and therefore establish whether it is the head of the kidnapped champion, Shergar, or not.
