60 Minutes transcript: Shergar, a missing horse, an enduring sports mystery

Legends. Lore. The oral tradition…for centuries they've come stitched into the Irish national tapestry. Add this one to the anthology: the story of Shergar, a champion racehorse, Ireland's answer to Secretariat, who dominated tracks in the early 80s — until he was kidnapped. The crime was thought to be an Irish Republican Army plot, launched amid "The Troubles," the violent conflict that convulsed Northern Ireland for 30 years. All this time later, the horse was never found, no one's been arrested, and one of sport's great unsolved mysteries has never moved beyond cold case status. With central figures dying off and memories fading, we ventured to horse country, not far from Dublin, in County Kildare.

A vast carpet of unfurling grass. This is the Curragh—Gaelic for: place of the running horse . A thousand years ago, kings and chiefs raced chariots here. Now it's the beating heart of Ireland's thoroughbred racing industry, the last place you'd peg for the setting of an ill-fated kidnapping.

Over the last weekend in June, the Curragh is home to the Irish Derby, or Darby, as they say here. The best in breed come from all over. But in 1981, it was won by a local - Shergar, born in a nearby stable.

And who knew it at the time, but his saga was barely getting out of the gate.

Derek Thompson (1981 Epsom Derby): Was it easier than you thought it would be?

That's commentator Derek Thompson asking the question and trying to keep up with Shergar on his way to another winner's circle.

Derek Thompson: He was just a beautiful mover. He had-- a white face, which I think endears him to the crowd. You know, you could see him. "Hey, that's Shergar." As a commentator you-- you look for things like that.

It was Shergar's overwhelming speed and stride that distinguished him at the 1981 Epsom Derby, England's equivalent of The Kentucky Derby.

Derek Thompson: And he won by 10 lengths. The guy who rode the second horse, he was long-sighted so-- and he couldn't wear his glasses, obviously, when he was riding. So when he passed the post he thought he'd won.

Jon Wertheim: Give us a sense where Shergar ranks historically among thoroughbred racehorses.

Jon Wertheim: What does the future typically hold for a horse like Shergar once he's done racing?

Derek Thompson: Becomes a stallion, all right? And when you become a stallion, you become a very lucky lad.

That is, after getting a hero's welcome back in County Kildare, Shergar was put out to stud.

The other lucky lad: Shergar's owner, the late Aga Khan , spiritual leader of the Ismaili Muslims, one of the richest royals in the world. He retired Shergar to Ballymany Stud Farm, hoping to create a dynasty of sorts - syndicating the horse, selling 40 shares for 250,000 pounds each, totaling more than $50 million, in today's currency.