Do Go On - 394 - The Kidnapping of Shergar

Episode Date: May 10, 2023

Thoroughbred racehorse, Shergar, was referred to as "a national hero in Ireland. ... one of the most recognizable sports personalities—horse or human—in Ireland." But then in 1983, in the middle of the night, he was taken. By whom and for what reason? Listen to find out! This is a comedy/history podcast, the report begins at approximately 04:28 (though as always, we go off on tangents throughout the report).Support the show and get rewards like bonus episodes: patreon.com/DoGoOnPodLive show tickets: https://dogoonpod.com/live-shows/ Submit a topic idea directly to the hat: dogoonpod.com/suggest-a-topic/Check out our new merch Check out our AACTA nominated web series: http://bit.ly/DGOWebSeries​ Twitter: @DoGoOnPodInstagram: @DoGoOnPodFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/DoGoOnPod/Email us: [e-mail] Check out our other podcasts:Book Cheat: https://play.acast.com/s/book-cheatPrime Mates: https://play.acast.com/s/prime-mates/Listen Now: https://play.acast.com/s/listen-now/Who Knew It with Matt Stewart: https://play.acast.com/s/who-knew-it-with-matt-stewart/ Our awesome theme song by Evan Munro-Smith and logo by Peader ThomasDo Go On acknowledges the traditional owners of the land we record on, the Wurundjeri people, in the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders, past and present.  REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING:https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21316921https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-44383969https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shergarhttps://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/shergar-irish-horse-kidnap Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Melbourne and Canada, we got exciting news for you. And we should also say this is 2026. Jess, what year is it? 2026. Thank God you're here. Right now, I'm in Melbourne doing my show with Serenji Amana, 630 each night at the Cooper's Inn Hotel, having so much fun. We'd love to see you there. Canada, we are visiting you in September this year.

If you somehow missed the news, we are heading up Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Toronto for shows. That's going to be so much fun. Tickets for all this stuff, I believe, are online. And I'm here too. And welcome to another episode of Doogone. My name is Dave Warnikey and, as always, I'm here with Matt Stewart and Jess Perkins. Hello. Hey, how good is it to be alive?

So good to be with you, Jess, Dave and the listeners. A bit of free vibrato there for you. And let me just say, I wish I was never born. Did you catchphrase? Loving it. I'm actually loving it. Me too. I love it.

What a delight to be here. Um, let's catch up. Yeah. What have you been up to? Oh, I recorded an episode of my, uh, bonus podcast phrasing the bar earlier that people can listen to on Patreon. Oh, that's cool. What are you guys doing this morning?

I was doing the same. I was talking about the show Soul Man. Wait, a whole lot of soul? A whole lot of soul. Fuck off. I was just talking about that as well. And people can listen to that if they go to Patreon.com slash two on pod and sign up on their appropriate level with the bonus episodes.

You get bonus episodes. We've covered. We've realized that at the time of recording, Brennan Fraser currently only has 12 movies left that we haven't seen, basically. But he's starting to pump him out again. Yeah, that's right. He's got two other than post-production. Yeah.

So the podcast could go forever. So that's our show about Brennan Fraser. But how does this show work, Dave? Well, on this show, we take it intends to report on a topic, often suggested to us by one of the listeners. We go away, do a little bit of research, bring it back in the form of a report. The other two people who aren't reporting have no idea what's going to be about. which is Matt and my role today.

And Jess, it's your role to tell us about something. So, do you have a question to start? I do. Gallaneers Cobb. Galaneers Cobb. Appaloosa. Appalusa. Arabian.

Horses. And American paint are all types of what? I want to said apples. I want to said horses. Yeah, and you would be correct. Whoa. Was it Arabian that got you there? I thought Arabian might be too well-known.

What were the first two? They sounded like... Gallaneers Cobb. Galaneers Cobb. Appaloosa. I was singing Corn at this point. I was singing apples then. Yeah, that's when I went to Apple and I just didn't give it up.

And there's an American paint horse. American paint... No, horse. American Paint Apple. Yeah, so all types of horse. Because this is a story about a very special horse. Oh, a special horse. You don't do that all the episode?

Oh! This is a topic that's been suggested by quite a few people. I'm David Baxter, Kieran Spillane, Ian Irving, Hannah-Clair Oblivion, incredible name. Wow. James Claxon, Jeffro A, and Nick have all suggested this topic. Okay, until Nick, they were all banging names. Jeffro? And then Nick went up to another level.

Short, sweet, efficient, but a bang, butter-bang, Nick. That's who I am. Love me or leave me. I'm Nick. I haven't told you guys that my parents were considering calling my brother. than Nicholas, but then my dad was like, no, I don't really like Nick. So then they named him Michael and his whole life we've called him Mick. Have you a dad into that?

Yeah, I think he's come to accept it. He calls him mate, like a lot of Aussie dads do. He calls him mate. I mean, he could have called Nickmate as well. Yeah, he had a problem with Nick in his childhood or something. He's like, Nick. I got bullied by a Nick. Yeah, but then he's got a Mick.

He's got a Mick. Yeah, I love Mick, love Nick. I'm in the both. Me too. Love them both. They're all welcome here. I like Rick. As anybody with the surname Oblivion. Oblivion. Nick Oblivion. I can only assume that was Nick's last name as well. Yeah, we can only hope. That's where you wish you were, Jess. Oblivion. Which I think if you've never been born, that's where you are. Yeah. I would love to be an oblivion.

And I'd love to be with Nick Oblivion. Then you could be Dave Oblivion. Like if you're marrying someone with the last name Oblivion, you're changing that. name regardless of your like of your gender whatever you take an oblivion and we're talking like iristole o apostrophily oblivion yeah yeah beautiful name it's really good of the oblivion that's right of the northern oblivions um okay a special horse this is a special horse named sugar don't like it or shirga shirga it's s h-e-r-g-a-r it's what uh james bomb smokes Sugar. That is excellent stuff.

That is excellent. Yeah, sugar. Oh, that's so good. The new listeners, excellent and dog shit made the same thing on the show. Honestly, I am not even being sarcastic. It's peaked this early, people.

We are, what are we, five minutes in, does not get better than sugar. Sugar. So, Chagar was a thoroughbred bay cult. I've learned a lot of new terms here. It's a lot of horse racing terms and horse terms in this episode. I had to do a lot of Googling.

You're on a bit of a horse glossary. Bay is just that, there's a colour. It's that sort of reddish-brown colour. A horse colour. Horse brown. We've talked about that before. And he had four white socks and a white blaze, which is a stripe down the front of his face.

He was born in March or whose fold is what they say. Horses aren't born, they're fold. In March of 1978 in Shoshune Stud. Badak poker for that reason. Anyway, so... They fold, got it. The cult is, what, like a boy, young boy? Yes.

I'm still wondering where this is going, so I'll let you continue. Well, I've just started, too. So it could go almost anywhere. But it's about a horse. Because we've done a lot of horse topics. Have we? Yeah, we did Dave's one about the horse that could count. Clever hands.

This is the special horse. Mine was the smart horse. You've done clever hands. We've done Mr. Hands. We've also done the controversial. The fine cotton scandal, which you can find on YouTube and in the podcast feed. Yep. So we've done three horses.

Plus we spoke about Megatrotts. Oh, Megatrots in almost 400 episodes. 1% has mentioned a horse. I would say we're a horse-based podcast. Yeah, we're half a quine of this stuff. Well, yes, he's born in 78 at Shoshun Stud in... That's how often James Bond smokes cigarettes. When would you like to?

a cigarette, Shoshoon. You've only arrived and you're smoking a cigarette. Shoshun. Come on. That's good stuff. No, I don't think it tops Shaghar. Well, nothing. I told you nothing would.

Turn off now if you want it to. Because it won't. I really think quite a few would have turned off by now. So, Shishu. Where Shishun? Shishun started. It's in, in Ireland, in Kildare. Shagar's father was a British stallion named Great Neffern.

few. Oh, that's confusing. There's a few fun horse names in here, so I mention them. Not that they're important to the story, but his father is great nephew. Great nephew, who won several races in France during his racing career, and Chagas Dam, or mother, seems all these fucking different words for everything, was Charmene, a seventh generation descendant of Mammat, Mahal, a horse that is described by the National Sporting Library as one of the most important brood mares of the 20th century.

Whoa. So this horse, Shigar, is a nepo pony. Comes from good blood. And somebody will tweet us and be like, well, it's not actually a pony. Shut up. Shut up. Let us say naponi. That was a bit funny.

So Shoshun, where Shagar was born, is the oldest continuously operative stud in Ireland or England. It was the first Irish farm purchased by the Aga Khan in 1923. Do you know anything about Aga Khan? No. I was hoping Dave might know. Oh, Aghaqqana is that the name of the, uh... The imam, the, um, like a Muslim leader, sort of a spiritual leader. It's, it's an interesting kind of thing.

It's like, it's essentially like a family job. He's sort of like royalty, but without sort of having a specific nation. Right. Very interesting. But based in Ireland? No, no, no. Um, well, he was born in like Switzerland, um, and sort of inherited this role from his grandfather.

Oh, like a Nepo Imam. He's a Nepo Imam. So he has held the position of Imam and the title of Agha Khan since July of 1957, when at the age of 20, he succeeded his grandfather, Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah Agha Khan, the third. That is a great name. Incredible name. So along with his work as a spiritual leader, he's also a business magnate and philanthropist and has a keen interest in horse breeding and horse racing.

I really think those go hand in hand. Spiritualism and multi-billion-dollar business. Yes, I agree. I mean, I'm making that number up, but I'm guessing it's big money. Oh, yeah, yeah, he's worth billions. Yeah. That's, to me, that is what spiritualism is all about. Just getting yourself back to the bare necessities of billions and billions of dollars.

Yeah, back to the bare billions. I agree. I know very little about the Aga Khan, so if it's something you know a lot about, I'm sorry. I tried and it was quite confusing to understand. But seems like kind of nice guy. Yeah, right. So essentially, the stud, where these horses are being born and stuff, they belong to the Aga Khan. So in 1979, Shogar was sent to England for training with trainer Michael Stout, who had a good year in 78, training two horses.

Again, I've just mentioned their names for fun. Fair Salinia and Shang Gamazo. Wow. Shang Gamazo. There's a lot of shun names. Is that all based on that stud? Maybe. Being a sh...

What was it the stud called again? The stout? The... Oh, Shigar? Shigar. Shishu. Shishun. Shishun.

Shishun. Oh, yes. Yeah. Sharmine. So confusing. So those two, Fersilinia and Shangamuzzo had won multiple races between him. So Stout was impressed with Shigar. He was easy to break.

He had a good temperament. And he responded well to training. And so on the 19th of September, 1980s, Shigar ran his first. race. It was the Chris plate, which is now called the Haynes Hanson and Clark condition steaks. Wow, that really rolls. Yeah. Off the tongue. But so the Chris plate. Chris? Chris or crisp? Chris. Chris. K-R-I-S. Okay. Who's Chris? No idea. It was, it was named that for like one or two years, I think, and then it changed. Lester Pigott was his jockey, and the pair were the favorites on the day with odds of 11 to 8. I don't understand odds. I put that in there

so that you could explain it to me. Well, 11 to 8, that's... Is that good odds? That's, 11.8 would be very... Wait, I'm trying to think if it's... Because you don't talk like that anymore. That's very old school, I think. Right.

Because now you'd be like, it'd be into the decimals and stuff. Instead, on the total, whatever, it'd say, like, it's paying $1.10 or something. Yeah, okay. So you put a dollar on, you'll win back $2.10 if it wins. Gotcha. But what did you just say? 11, 18. 118.

So I think that is a short price favorite, I would say. Is that clear it up, Jess? It's a short price favorite. Well, I mean, I'm assuming it's a favorite unless there's someone with short odds. And someone will be finding this very annoying. But 11. I could have just said they were favorites. I think it's like $1.37.

Right. Like you put on a dollar. Yep. You'll win back $2.37. Yeah, okay. So you're not making a lot of money because it's likely to win. Yeah, yeah. And at his very first race, he won.

by two and a half lengths. So it's a decent, decent win. First ever race. A month later, he raced again coming second, but catching the attention of the racing community. Following the race, Michael Seeley, the racing correspondent of The Times, thought Chagas' run was significant

and that he was a magnificent stamp of a horse and won to watch over the following year. So through 1981, Sugar continued to race, winning races by 10 to 12 lengths, which is heaps. That seems like a lot. It's a lot. commentating on one race,

Peter Bromley informed listeners that there's only one horse in it. You need a telescope to see the rest. Day one second. Yeah, he won that race by 10 lengths. It was the largest winning margin of any Epsom Derby. John Mathias, the jockey on the second place horse, Glint of Gold, another good name,

said, I thought I'd achieved my life's ambition. Only then did I discover there was another horse on the horizon. So he's so far ahead. The guy coming second thinks he's won. I'm winning. Oh my God. Is that sugar in the stands at the bar? He's already drunk half a pint.

He's ordered me one, which is nice, I guess, but also feels a bit like salt on the wood. Oh, imagine that. They go so far while you forget about it. Yeah. You're looking across. They're doing the medal ceremony. Yeah. You're seeing it all unfold in front of you.

You're still just going at as hard as you can. It's like it's happening in slow. motion. They've gotten married, had kids. The horse and the jockey? Well, I was thinking a horse on a horse, but hey. Hey. Hey, hey, who am I to judge? Who am I? Well, I think I'm in a pretty good position to judge that one. Okay. I'll say, and I'm going over your head here, Jess. Becality is wrong. Matt, that will not age well, okay? People will be listening back to this in 10 years and they'll be

like, wow. Ten years. So ignorant. What you're saying now is already aged poorly, I would say. Me? No, I couldn't. I could never age poorly. The only way's up for me. I guess? I don't know.

Anyway, okay. So he's absolutely smashing it. In a racing career that spent almost exactly one year, Chagawin won six races and came second in one. So he's just smashing it out, racing a lot, a quick rise. Yeah. His final race was the St. Stakes at Doncaster on the 12th of September 1981.

Ten days before the race, a story was published in the racing newspaper Sporting Life that Chagher had not been practicing well and had become muleish. Stout stated the rumors were untrue. Chigar was running well in the race, although the soft ground was not to his liking, but on the final straight, when jockey Walter Swinburne tried to get him to accelerate to the front, the horse would not respond. He's like, eh. Shigar came in fourth, 11 and a half lengths behind

Cut above, the winner. Some great horse names. Yeah, that's a bit of nominative determinism. Yeah, it comes in fourth. Surprised by the manner of the loss, Stout and the Yagha Khan ran a series of tests on Shigar. They're sort of like, something's got to be wrong here. All tests showed the horse was in good health,

and he worked well in training after the race. Niyagha Khan explained to a journalist, he was just an exceptional athlete. All through the spring and summer, he completely dominated European racing in a very dramatic manner. And after he'd run so uncharacteristically in the St. Ledger, we knew something was wrong but didn't know what it was,

so it was an easy decision to retire him. So, you know, a meteoric rise, a quick career. Yeah, he just, they've gone, he just can't be fucked. Yeah, he's over it. And as far as a big drop-off, so finishing top four in a big race is... Not bad at all, is it? So following Chigar's Epsom Derby win,

a group of US horse owners had offered 40, million dollars to syndicate the horse. This is in 1980. They don't use the... They use the term syndicate. Hmm. So just spread its seed. So what they mean?

No, they... Yeah, I guess so. Like breed it? I think it's just a show on the regional affiliates. That's right. Coming up after Sanfeld, but Chigar. So it's... Well, I guess, yeah, I guess it kind of is that,

because the Aga Khan turned down the offer and instead decided to syndicate Chigar for 10 million. at 250,000 pounds for each of the 40 shares. It was a record price at the time. He kept six shares for himself, and the others were sold individually to buyers from nine countries. So he's sort of still holding a fair year. So it just means it's like selling shares.

So you hear sometimes like a big, maybe a Melbourne Cup winner will be owned by a syndicate. And it might be, you know, hundreds of people who have all paid a couple of thousand bucks. And they get this time, They get a 1% share or a 0.5% share or something. Syndication by, he's retired, but we're going to breed this horse with all the other horses. Which I think they're going to do. Yes.

But you buy a share of that. And then you get per stud fee or whatever. I guess Jess is about to explain. Yeah, my next sentence. Sorry. The shareholders had the option each year of selecting a mare to be covered, which was just to mate with sugar, or of selling that option on. So they could also sell the, like if somebody had a mayor that they wanted to,

mate with Chagar, but they weren't a stakeholder. A stakeholder could sell them that opportunity. What a strange business in world. What a weird? And this is all because their kids are going to be fast horsemen. You assume so, yeah. But they've got 40 times per year, 40 banks per year. Yeah, and the stud fees were 60 to 80,000 pounds per cover,

which meant that shareholders could expect to make a profit from the stud within four years. That's a good investment. Yeah. But what a strange investment? It's so strange. You're investing in jizz. You're pimping out a horse Oh, well, you absolutely are

And then being like, well, all right, you can buy my route Yeah. Yeah. I don't feel like we've ruined the horse this year. We didn't say it had to be with the horse. I think that was strongly implied, sir. I'm going to have to write that in your contract.

But I guess the danger would be that, you know, the horse gets sick or something like that and it doesn't even make it through four years and then that's the only way you'd lose the money, I suppose. Or if early on the offspring don't seem to be doing it. They're working out of the horses infertile. Yeah. They didn't realize it's a gelding, which means it's at its Nads lopped off.

Yeah, that's right. So many Nets. We should have checked now. Did anybody check the Nads? We got to check the Nads. We didn't realize it was a giraffe. Oh, that could go straight to Hollywood, though. Are they quick?

Racing stripes. Yeah. As fast as a racing horse? Sure we're not. Great question. Well, it depends. Is it a thoroughbrose? Red giraffe? Okay, I'm going to look up top speed of a giraffe.

You look up top speed of a racehorse. Top speed of giraffe. Okay. Okay, I've got a maximum... I've got a miles per hour. Have you got that? I have got a kilometres per hour, so there's no way we'll ever be able to figure this out. Okay.

Oh, let me convert because I know what freaks you about. I don't get miles. I'm going to look up top speed of a zebra. Okay. Okay, let's see. Okay, so before we reveal their top speeds, who do we reckon? zebra, giraffe, racehorse. I reckon giraffe's a bloody quick.

I'm going to say race horse. Just as they've got race in the name. Yeah, I think racehorse. Okay, you want to go... And we're going on Ks per hour. K per hour. I've got the fastest recorded race time for a thoroughbred per hour. Fantastic.

Okay, Matt, you go first, top speed of a zebra. According to San Diego. A zoo.org. 56Ks per hour. That's pretty fast. That's pretty fast. A giraffe. According to Google.

60Ks per hour. 60Ks per hour. There you go. Very close. What about a racehorse? Racehorse. According to horse and rider.com, which I trust with my life.

Yes, as you should. Fastest record of time for a thoroughbred is 70 kilometers per hour. Yes. I was right. I knew it would be a racehorse. It's in the ballpark and that's the fastest ever. Yeah, totally. And so.

A draft's gone 60Ks an hour. And zebra is. Zebra is 56, but that's like just your average. Zebra. Incredible. So I think racing stripes, was that based on a true story? I hope so. I'm happy to be wrong, but I think we've all...

And if it wasn't, it's going to inspire our true story. We've all learned something here today. So the horse is retired and the Aka Khan decides to keep him at a start in Kildare at Bellimani. I'm saying that wrong. I'm so sorry. This is from Wikipedia, a great horse racing website I found, Wikipedia.org. The dub is for whipping horses.

That's correct. Which is outdated. Yeah. Boy, do they still do that overseas? Australia, they pretty much stop them. They don't whip them anymore? They made the whips really soft, and they're only allowed to whip them a couple times.

Wow, okay. That's weird. Just make none of them be able to whip. Then they're all equal. So, this is from Wiki. He arrived in October of 1981 and was paraded down the main street of Newbridge. Milton Toby, the writer on thoroughbred racing and equine law,

judges Chagar to have been a national hero in Ireland, one of the most recognizable sports personalities, horse or human, in Ireland. Wow. What year is this again? National hero, 1981. Right. A horse is a national hero.

I'm still curious, is this just an episode about this horse that was really good at running? Or is there some wild twist coming up where it turns out it's a giraffe? Or something like that. Sorry if I spoiled it. You fucking ruin everything. And I hate you.

It ends up, you know. Gapping a second career on Wall Street. Just a story about a really fast horse. I believe it was pitched a special horse, which I'm wondering what that could mean. Well, special, it's special speed. Yeah, I just meant like a really fast horse. It's faster than a giraffe. You guys always want something like different and interesting and crazy to happen.

But like, sometimes fact is crazy than fiction. Yeah. And this horse was crazy fast. Yeah. Fast than anyone could imagine in fiction. No one could imagine a horse. No one could imagine. So he's made a return back to Ireland.

He's an absolute hero. The following year, 1982, was Chagar's only rutting season. That's Fuckfest 3,000 baby. Oh, it only had one rut fest. Yeah. He made it with 44 mayors. 36 of them became pregnant.

What a guy. 44. Whoa. 36 successful. So that's a pretty good hit rate. He's a really good hit rate. He's fertile. He's got balls.

17 cults and 19 Phillies were born. Three of them won group races in latey years. So he did have. you know, some pretty good genes we passed down. How many won group races? Three of them? Three of them. So, you know.

Three out of 36? Pretty good. It's almost 10%. This part of me is wondering, he really fell off a cliff here. Has it been swapped over for a giraffe? I know you're looking at me like, drop the giraffe thing, but I just think a giraffe plays into this somehow. Okay.

And that would make sense why it's such a small percent. Like, because I think if a giraffe made it with, you know, 36 or 44 mares, you're not going to get, they're not all going to get pregnant. It's going to be low on that because I don't think giraffes and horses generally have babies. And that's why it's only 36 out of 44.

So I'm thinking they've switched it out for a giraffe before its final race. The giraffe masks add up. Which says it's slightly less fast. Yeah, but it finishes fourth. The giraffe probably would finish fourth. Yeah. So I think that maybe is what's happened here.

Zebra was fifth. It was a very strange race. And look, we're going to need to edit all this out because you're spoiling the big surprise. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. I could have picked any animal on, I said you're up.

At the start of February 1983, Shigar's second stud season was about to begin, and he was in high demand and had a full book of 55 mares to cover. He was expected to earn one million pounds for the season. One million pounds for one million pounds. Yeah. 54 pounds. It was very efficient.

One and done. One and done. Done. Next. So he's heading into his... They're playing popcorn. And done. And done.

You're welcome. Can someone animate that? You'll end up on a list, but it'll be funny. The list of coolest short movies ever. So he's heading into his second stud season. However, on the 8th of February, 1983 at around 8.30 p.m., three masked men entered the house of Jim Fitzgerald, the head groom at Ballymany. One of the men said, we've come for Chagar. We want two million pounds for him.

Wait, they've come for, but we've won the money now. We haven't got him yet. They've done the, they've done the ransom before they're kidnapping. They're just letting him know. Oh, we're going to kidnap your son tomorrow and we want $10 million. They're the babe roof of horse kidnappers. They're already pointing to the stand, three million. For this. For this one year. We're about to take it.

Yeah. Back up the trailer. The three men who entered his home were just a part of a larger group. Resources say it was between six and nine men in total. Fitzgerald's family were locked into a room while he was taken at gunpoint, out to Shigar's stable and told to put the horse in the back of a trailer, a horse trailer, not just like a one that's She's a horse standing there. Yeah, from Bunnings.

The courtesy trailer. What a beautiful service. A horse standing on it. A horse standing on top of a lawn floor. We haven't dropped off what they actually bought from Bunnings. I mean, we were going this way anyway. I just thought it's easier. Chagarva was driven away in the trailer and Fitzgerald was shoved into a van.

He was made to lie on the floor of the van and his face was covered. and he was driven around for four hours before being let out of the van near Kilcock, about 20 miles or 3S2Ks away from Balimani. He was told not to contact police or his family would be killed. Oh, that is scary. So he's dumped in the middle of nowhere. Oh, a bit rough on Kilcock. He's near Kilcock.

He's not in the city centre. He's like, I'm in the middle of fucking nowhere. Because I'm probably that our listeners in Kilcock would be like, Jess, please, come on. We've got some beautiful sights and sounds. In Kilcock. Yeah. What do you think we're named after?

Yeah. Lovely. It's a lovely support. It's probably Killock, but it's funny. Come on. Come on. There's a comedy pronunciation and then there's Killock. Yeah.

So Fitzgerald walked onto the next village and called his brother to pick him up. On arrival back at Balimani, he rang Gisland Dreon, the manager of Aga Khan's Irish Studs, to inform him of the theft and urged him not to call police because of the threats that had been made. Dreon attempted to reach the Aga Khan in Switzerland to inform him, then rang Stan Cosgrove, Chagas Vett, who was also a shareholder. Cosgrove contacted a retired army captain, Sean Berry, who was a manager of the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association. Barry contacted Alan Dukes, a friend of his who was serving as the Minister for Finance,

who suggested that Barry speak to Michael Noonan, the Minister for Justice. Imagine what the message is by the end of this? It's ridiculous. Noonan Dukes told him... Sean Connery needs someone to smoke. Chagar. Noonan and Dukes told him to call the garter, the police. So they did all that to get back to.

Just call the cops. It just going. By 4 a.m. Dreon had managed to contact the Aga Khan, who told him to phone the guarder straight away. The force were then contacted, but it was eight hours after Chagar had been stolen and any possible trail had already gone cold. It took six men and eight hours to decide to call the police. And I love how the Akka Khan is like, oh, they're threatening, oh, your family, call the cops.

Oh, that's fine. That's fine. That's fine. That's fine. I call the cops. Why did you call me? Call the cops. Call the cops. What are they going to do? Oh, kill your family. Yeah, call the cops. Call the cops. Yeah. We're talking about a horse here. Yeah. My horse. Let's call it cops. That horse is going to make a million pounds from fucking. And I'm a billionaire. So it's nearly nothing to me.

But I like a little extra on the pile. But the only thing worth less than nothing to me is your family. As your dog shit children, I've seen their artwork on your desk, they suck. So, okay, you suspected something was happening. Did you think horse napping? No, I was thinking it was going to be maybe. It was interesting that the quality of the run dropped off so quick. I thought maybe there would be in a switch or something.

Yeah, but... Because you think I'd find cotton. Yeah, I think I'd find cotton on the brain. Yeah, you've got cotton on the brain, all right, mate? Not much happening upstairs. Cotton wool up there. He's an idiot. It's calling me fine cotton-in-jo over here.

Yep, that's what I was saying. Edit that bit out. Nah. So the very first contact that the thieves made after the horse napping was the same night that they'd taken Shigar. Jeremy Maxwell, a horse trainer in Northern Ireland, received a phone call demanding £40,000, although this figure was later raised to £52,000.

They'd also said, when they got Fitzgerald, they said we want two million. So it's very confusing. We want 40,000. Actually, inflation is a lot. 52. Sorry, I'm miscalculator. I want two million pounds.

Just to be safe. Maxwell was told that negotiations would only be with three British horse racing journalists. They're like, we will only talk with these three journalists. Derek Thompson and John Oaksie of ITV and Peter Campbelling from the sun. That's weird. We will only negotiate with these journalists. Are they just horse racing fans who want to meet their idols?

Oh, I really want to meet those guys from my TV. You're going the long way around here. Yeah. Just rock up at their work. Yeah. Like a normal person. Don't do that. Who are the Australian equivalents?

Bruce McAvaney. Bruce McAvaney. Oh, yes, of course. Bruce loves. I can't remember a sporting event that hasn't had Bruce McAvaney. What about Peter Donaghan? I have no idea who that is. Fantastic horsemen.

Peter Donigin. Great work out on the track, Peter. Yeah, what about some of the old 12th man, Kenny Callender. What about Kenny Callender? Yeah. Get Kenny in? There's our three. There's our three.

Great. I'm most of my Bruce. From an article from the BBC, it's a bloody great article. It says Thompson says he got a call at three in the morning asking if he was willing to go to Belfast. He checked with his bosses at Thames TV and was on board the plane that afternoon along with his two colleagues and a camera crew. He said the scene that greeted him at Belfast Airport was incredible. It was like being a film star.

There were cameras all around. The news of a lead in the search for the Equine superstar had spread. About 100 cameramen and journalists were in or outside the Europa Hotel as Thompson and his co-negotiators arrived. That's where they were told to meet, which apparently was a, that hotel, the Europa Hotel, I think was bombed several times during the troubles. So it's, it had like a, it was a. significant kind of place.

And it was known and potentially didn't feel very safe. So they arrived there. Thompson said he was trying to push his way through the press pack when a voice from reception said, Mr Thompson, would you pick up the hotel phone? At the other end of the line was a voice Thompson described as cold, chilling. It gave the agreed code word, Arkle, the name of a famous Irish steeple chaser and then warned Thompson, we're watching you from across the road. Wow.

Can I just ask the man of a thousand noises, what would a cold, chilling voice saying, Arkell? What does that sound like? Irish as well. And Irish, of course. Cold, chilling Irish. A particular spot in Arum? Northern.

Northern, okay. Kilcock. Flare. Ar. And what's the word? Arkell. Arkell. And this is a chilling.

Chilling and cold. Are you answering the phone? Yes. Yoh-hoo! The cold word is Harkle. Incredible. That is chilling.

Wow, I feel chills at the goal. Oh, he's still acting. What about we're watching you? We're watching you. From where? Where are you watching you from? I'd have to say, sorry, can you please speak up? I'm in a loud pub.

We're across the road in death. I can't quite hear you. Watching you over here. You're watching me from across the road. Oh, Steve Erkel. Amazing stuff. I forgot to tell you the second code word of Steve Ehrlichles. Thompson looked out the window and saw a row of dingy bars with darkened windows.

This was Belfast at the height of the troubles. Any optimism he had about his role had gone. So he's feeling a bit spooked. The article goes on to describe a pretty wild and full on night. So Thompson's told to lose the press. You know, they were going to meet him at the pub, but there's all this press there. We know that. Lose the press.

And get to an isolated farm 30 miles from Belmont. Belfast. Get out of here. Let's give him a bit of a thumb pointing to where you can shove it. Take it elsewhere. Tell your story. Walking. A jog on, Bucco.

Jock on to the farm. Yeah, 30 miles from Belfast. Straight out of a movie, the three men made their escape through the pub's kitchen and into a waiting car at the service entrance. As they drove, Thompson recalls, we were lost, totally lost. It was the middle of troubles. We were miles outside Belfast going up a single track road. suddenly five guys in balaclavas and machine guns appear in front of us.

We slam on the brakes and I think, hang on, these guys are just going to spray the car. They've got us over not to negotiate the release of the derby winner, but to kill us. One of the men with a gun approached the car and gestured to Thompson to roll down the window. He did and the man asked, are you Derek Thompson? To which Thompson replied, yes, I am. And the man in the balaclava said, we're the police. and Thompson replied, well, thank God for that. I'm going to need to see some evidence of that.

The balaclava will do me. This is an official uniform balaclava. I don't know what more I could. You can't just get these. We're the good guy, so just trust everything we say. Follow us. Here's my photo ID. Yes, I'm wearing a balaclava in that shot as all.

It matches. Okay. So the police took the group to Jeremy Maxwell's farmhouse, and over the next eight hours, Thompson took between 10 and 12 more phone calls, each beginning with a different password. So obviously, at the end of one phone call from the thieves, they'd set another password or something like that. And who, was the police the ones telling him to come to the farmhouse?

Yeah. So they wanted him. Okay, so they legit are the police. There's Bella Clavner. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And now he's making more calls. But then how do the thieves know to call it Jeremy's place? I don't know.

Yeah. I don't know. Wow. So he's having all these phone calls with them. and they're kind of trying to negotiate. And Thompson tried to keep the caller on the phone for 90 seconds, which was the length of time the police needed in order to trace the call. The caller seemed to know that and always hung up around 80, 85 seconds.

Just missing out. And every time I have to call, they end up calling about 17 people over 8 hours between every interaction. Finally, at 1am, Thompson managed to keep the conversation going for 95 seconds. Amazing. Was he like, oh, I need to think about this. Can I just count? to 90 please.

One, two, three. Yeah. So he's like, fuck yes. But he tricked him by saying he started counting after 10 seconds.

And the guy's like, perfect, I'll just hang up at 90. Got him. Got him. Ha, fucking idiot. So he turns around

to the policeman on his shoulder and said, did you get it? Where are they? Only to be told, I'm sorry, Mr. Thompson, but the man who traces

the calls went off shift at midnight. Oh, who's the feckin' e-jit Now. Wow. Isn't that incredible? He's like, I did it.

Yeah, we didn't trace it. Yeah, sorry. Didn't anyone tell you? Only Brian can do that. I don't know how to log in. I don't have a password for that system. So they're talking on the phone quite a bit. Obviously, I said 10 to 12 calls, but they're not really getting anywhere.

The kidnappers want a payment of like an initial payment of 40,000 pounds. But Thompson's asking for photographic proof. Like, he's asking for some sort of proof that the horse. that they have the horse. Like send us some sort of horse's head or something. Just so we know the horse is still alive. Give us a little piece of the horse. Yeah, come.

Give us something here. Come on. Come on. We're not paying you 40,000 pounds for a dead horse. Yeah, come on. We'll take the hoof at the very least. At the bare minimum. It's so close.

Saying the whole word. At the same time as the journalists were in the farmhouse, the thieves opened a second line of negotiation by contacting a Ballymany stud director and speaking to Dreon. Dreon was not a fluent speaker of English and struggled to understand the Irish accent of the caller. Oh my gosh. And the caller similarly had problems with Dreon's heavy French pronunciation.

90 minutes later, the caller tried again, with Drian asking him to speak slowly. A demand of two million pounds was made for the return of Chagar and for a contact number in France through which further negotiations could be made. I don't really like it's, I don't know why. So the syndicate, which owned Shigar, brought in the risk and strategic consulting firm control risks to handle the negotiations.

So they're taking this so seriously. They're like, we need this fucking horse back. We've all put a lot of money into it. He's going to make us a lot of money. Yeah. We need our horse. We need to bring in. The professional negotiators who come in and they go, all right, who's negotiating.

That man who can't speak English. Yeah. Oh, fucking hell. This is not going to work. Yeah. Same as the negotiations with Thompson. the consulting firm asked for proof that Chigar was alive. Now he's lost two hooves.

As there'd been speculation from the media that the horse was dead. From Wikipedia again, The Thieves said that a representative of the syndicate should go to the Crofton Hotel in Dublin and ask for any messages for Johnny Logan, which is the name of an Irish singer. Stan Cosgrove went to the hotel and asked for any messages. Armed members of the special detective unit were present and in undercover. No message was delivered.

and Cosgrove returned home. Like, he waited for a little while. No messages, so he went home. Shortly afterwards, the negotiators received a phone call from the thieves, angry at the presence of the police. And threatening that if any members of the gang were captured or killed, the negotiators and police would be murdered in retribution. So they're like, don't think we didn't know there were cops there.

You got to take this seriously or we're going to kill you all. It's a bit full on. On Saturday, the 12th of February, the thieves contacted negotiators and said that proof had been left. at the Rosnery Hotel. When this was picked up, it contained several Polaroid pictures showing Chagar. Some of the pictures showed the horse's head next to a copy of the Irish news dated 11th of Feb. So the day before.

So you say, send us the horse's head. They're sending a picture of the horse's head. And like a guy on a Bella Club with a thumbs up. It's all good. It's fine. We got this. Got him an apple. He's really happy.

Cosgrove saw the photograph and confirmed that it definitely was him, although he added it wasn't proof that the horse was a lot of. alive. At that point, you'd want to get much more definitive evidence. If you'd seen the complete horse, it would have been different, but this was just the head. Right. You're on the complete horse. You're not the whole horse. You should be able to tell from the eyes if it looks alive on it. Yeah, true. Its tongue was hanging out, and there was a lot of blood on its net. There's crosses over its eyes. Yes. And then coins on top. And the ferry man was there. But it's hard to tell. But if you get the full.

Shot of the horse. How do you not know it's not just like four kids dressed up? Oh, that's true. I was going to say like if you got a picture of it standing up, but it could be asleep. Yes. But that doesn't mean it's dead. Yes. Oh, it's tough.

It was a very famous horse then as well. So there was, they're already Halloween costumes and stuff. Very last. You could be easily dressed up like, sugar. Yeah. The number one most must have costume for the pretty chuck on four socks. You're sugar, baby. Sugar.

The idea of paying ransom was pretty much out of the question anyway. For one, The Aga Khan was only one of 35 members, so he couldn't negotiate or pay on behalf of the others. But he was also unsure whether Shigar would be returned, even if the money was paid, and concerned that if the kidnappers' demands were met, it would make every high-value horse in Ireland a target for future thefts. So it's a precedent.

You imagine he's got that in his wallet, probably a couple of million. Yeah. But yeah, the precedent's what he's worried about. Yeah. And then some people disagreed. Like there were some members of the syndicate that were like, you know, if this was a child, we'd pay. And they're like, yep. Yeah, but this is.

It's not a child. Show me one, a child that can make a million dollars in one season. Yeah. Oh, I can't. Can't. Especially doing what Chigar was supposed to do. Maybe Shirley Temple in her heyday. But she's grown up.

Okay. Let her go. She's not a child. Let it go, Matt. Current day, I don't know if I could name a current day child star. Is Frankie Muniz still? I think you're just slightly more current than mine but I think like about three years

McCauley Colkin What's McCauley up to? And what about the whole Colkin crew? The whole Coralckel crew? The whole Corin Colkin Karen Colkin. What's Keirn Colkin What's Keirn Colkin doing?

There's another Colkin as well. Yeah, or the third Colkin. Colky Colky Colkin. Colky Colkin. Get the Colkins in. Or get the Colkins on the phone. Maybe the Colkins between them can make a million in one season,

but not one of the Colkins. them. Yeah. And that's just from rooting. Once you get Hollywood fees on top of them. Oh my God. You know, Kieran's on succession now. Yeah.

I'm sure it's great. Now, as I mentioned before, because it took eight hours for them to call the police in the first place, police investigations were hindered from the very beginning. They're like, oh, okay, so this was ages ago, cool. This sounds like the police making excuses before they even get caught. It's really funny. That crime happened eight hours ago. Honestly, the statute of limitations has basically run out at this point.

We would have. If you called us straight away, we definitely would have solved it. That's really on you. It's a loophole, eight hours, you know? Yeah, come on. And of course, you're not allowed to report a horse missing until three days, but even still.

There'd also been a local thoroughbred auction the same day as the theft, meaning there were a lot of horse trailers traveling around in the area, making it difficult to determine which one was the stolen horse and which way it went. That's clever It's pretty clever It's sort of You know like the cup and the ball

And the Yeah Where's the horse Separate right up Separate up Yeah like that Oh shell game Don't let the

What was that A shell game A shell game A shell game Another horse That was his brother I heard you go Ah shalga

Oh shogum Yeah Leading the investigation Was Chief Superintendent James Murphy A highly experienced Detective In his first

Press conference Murphy described how he was slightly concerned about the theft and told reporters, I have no leads. But from Wiki, Murphy had a strong Irish brogue, wore a Trilby hat, and had a self-effacing sense of humour. At one press conference, he announced a clue, now that's something we haven't got.

I love this guy. Several people claiming to have paranormal powers contacted the garter with their thoughts. Murphy reported that... So with their thoughts, as in like they contacted them telepathically? No, I think they contacted them traditionally to share their thoughts. Oh, okay. Damn.

I was going to say, because if they contact you telepathically, you can't say you don't have any balance. Yeah, I can't believe you. Or I'm schizophrenic. Murphy said, diviners, clairvoyance and psychic persons. They're in three different categories. They must be running into the 50s now. So they've had heaps of people contact them and be like, I psychically know where the horse is. Great.

During one press conference, six photographers turned up wearing similar trilbies to the policeman. The Times called him a stage Irishman. I just had to look at what Trilby meant. That's classic. Yeah. And that's Sean Connery wearing it. As in like the camera people have like warn them because they're like, this guy looks cool. I want to look cool like him.

Yeah, totally. He's starting a trend. He's become a character. That's the best. There was a documentary in 2004 called and a reviewer called Murphy, the most richly comic copper since Inspector Clousseau. After eight days with no progress He was replaced as the public figure of the investigation

But continued to lead it That kind of read to me like he was becoming a bit of a media sensation himself And it was a bit distracting on the case Yeah, they're all just like, this guy fucking rules Look at these fun hat What are we talking about again? He says funny stuff, I like it So with no definite news of Shagas whereabouts

And with the Garda limiting the information they released to the press The media took to speculation to cover the story Because they're like, well, we don't have a lot of facts So we just got to make some shit out. Oh, that's classic journalism. For some I'm concerned, the lame stream media just making it up, hey? Bloody hell. Hey, do they have a clue?

Not likely these goons. You know, sorry to rag on your profession. Those are my peers. Yeah, they are. Okay. Cal Stephanovic and the like? Yes. Who's your hero in the journalist world?

Oh, probably Sandra Sully. Sandra Sully, yeah. With the late news. That's... Tracy Grimshaw, a current affair. Yes, yes. Ah, yes. The grim shore.

The Grim Roper. Yeah. Nothing current about that affair. Is that still sure? You don't have to pipe in, Dave. If you got nothing good. Jesus Christ. That was too honest.

That was cold. I'm sorry. That was cold. No, that was great, Dave. That was very witty. How I saved it on that? No, the caron about that affair. That's good banter.

I don't know if you even heard my late news. That'd be right. That was good stuff. I don't really get it. Is it because I'm stupid? No. No, it was just having to go at Sandra Sally.

Yeah. Late with the news. She used to host the late news. There are in a few group chats where someone's nickname's been changed to Sandra Sully because they've come in with a little bit of story or gossip or something that someone had said like half an hour earlier. A little bit of news. like in a footy chat, like, oh, it looks like someone, Kurno's been suspended or something,

and then someone else comes and says their nickname's about to be sand yourself. Nothing current about that affair. Does it work? Very good. So these are some of the speculations that the media were speculating. That Chagar had been stolen by Colonel Gaddafi as part of a deal to supply arms to the IRA, that a Middle Eastern horse breeder had stolen him for stucing

that the mafia had undertaken the action to punish the Aga Khan over a previous sale of a horse which had gone badly. And according to the tabloid newspaper Sunday Sport, Chagar was spotted being ridden by the missing Lord Lukan. No. Previous report topic! Wow. So somehow Lord Lukin has stolen this horse and is riding him to safety? Maybe. Apparently.

Whoa. Incredible. How cool is that reading? I'm like, Lord Lugin, that rings a bell. Who was the other guy in that report? John Stonehouse. That's right. And that episode was called The Tale of Two.

Two Missing Parliamentarians, I believe it was, because they both went missing from the UK, both parliamentarians within one month of each other. And now we know that one rode off at record time. Yes. Such a good report. Great story. So.

Just like, because you were just like, that rings a bell vaguely. Beautiful story, well told. No, I remember it being a wild ride. Yes, yes, yes. Almost as wild as Lucan on that horse. Yeah. Eight weeks after Chigar was stolen,

When Stan Cosgrove was approached by senior detectives within the Garda, who introduced him to Dennis Monogue, a horse trainer, Manogue claimed to have a contact within the IRA, who had shown him a photograph of Chagar, and said that he could help get Chigar released for a ransom of £80,000. The Garter asked Cosgrove to assist them in a sting operation to lure the thieves out. Cosgrove agreed, and on the 20th of July 83, Detective Garder Martin Kenirons, Kenirons, probably,

assisted the operation. He put the money in the boot of his car in a remote village, which Minogue was to collect once the horse had been released. The following day, Ken Irons found the boot of his car forced open and the money missing.

Monogue had also disappeared and the money was never recovered. Oh my gosh. They just stole the money out of the back of the car. They just sounded like it was a setup, but how poorly they... They just left the car on... Just put the money in the boot.

Their garter is their name. I know. We'll put the money in the boot and we'll use it tomorrow. And that detective is... You know where it is, but don't get until tomorrow. We're trusting you. Don't get until you've given us the horse. We want the horse back.

Then you can have the money, which is in the boot, just there. Just there. We're going to leave it. We will not be watching it. We won't be watching it, obviously, because we know that you won't get until we've got the horse back. We're mates, right? Mates don't let each other down. My mate let me down.

He had his fingers crossed behind his back, Monogue. Yeah. Danny Minogue? Yeah, Danny Minogue. Any relation? Of course. Yes, it's their dad. That detective was dismissed from the garter for breaching regulations,

but always maintained his innocence that, you know, it wasn't part of it. It wasn't part of it, yeah. So I've mentioned the IRA a couple of times. So police and intelligence sources considered the IRA as the most likely suspect behind the theft. And a lot of places will sort of say the horse were stolen by the IRA. In October 1981, the IRA Army Council, the leadership group of the organization, approved the kidnapping of Ben Dunn, the head of the chain of Dunn stores. It's like a chain retail place.

What's its equivalent here in Australia? Is it a big W-Tar? Myers? A rebel? It's probably more of a Myers. Myers-David-Jone kind of. Sort of pretty little fancy. Maybe not.

I don't know. And it's Dunn's and they got the Ben Dunn. They got the Ben Dunn. Yeah. So Irish multinational retail chain that's a plus primarily sells food, clothes and household goods. So not rebels. My apologies. No, it's not rebel.

That's sporting goods. It sounds like it's the own thing with food as well. Sounds like heaven. But David Jones used to have food. Fancy chocolates. Yeah, exactly. I've never been in one. But they look fancy from the outside.

They never let me in. You're pre-band for life. You were born banned. Don't you think about it. Nothing in here for you. I think you might be a little more comfortable at a Big W or a Target country. See, I've never been in a Big W. I'd never lower my hands.

That's my go-to. Or it was. I don't know if they still exist. I think so, yeah. How do you know, Dave? I've walked past them and spat through the security. You fancy boy. I'm on my way to DJs.

Nothing fancier than spitting on a department store. You probably wouldn't even know how to spit would you, Pleb. They don't teach you spitting at public school, do they? I'm a bad spitter. Yeah, I don't know how. how to spit. When you see, like, professional sports people, very good spitters. You know, cricketers who can spit through the guard on their helmet, get great power and accuracy.

Oh, yeah, amazing. You know how you don't like poop chat? Yeah, I hate spit chat. I don't like spit chat that much. Well, then why do you fucking start it? Dave did. Because I love spit chat. Dave loves all gross things.

He's the grossest boy. Dave's the grot of the group. He is a grot. Dave Grot-Warnocky. We won't give you cobra as a nickname, but I think the groth might stick. Happy, guilty as charged. Little grottie boy. Little grottie boy.

They're all discussing the better. TGB. Let's change the nickname in the group chat. A sap. The little grotty boy. Little grotty boy. And I want to be the big fella. All right.

What am I? By the end of the episode, we'll have something. Great. So anyway, they've kidnapped to Ben Dunn. Who's the, like, the namesake of Dunn? Yeah, yeah. He's like, he started at all. He was released unharmed after a week,

and both the Dunn family and the Garda deny that a ransom was paid. Okay. But they paid it in vouchers for the cook, the kitchen section. That's right, only the kitchen section. Pots and pans on me. Nothing on sale. No way it was. But according to intelligence, subsequently received by some sources,

after the success of the operation, it was decided to undertake another ransom through kidnapping or theft this time of Shaggar. So I don't see how they could see it as a success if I hadn't got some money from it. I reckon they did. Yeah, surely. It sounds like they don't want to admit that, yeah, we paid up because obviously encourages it a bit more. It's embarrassing for the dumb family or whatever. But he's really done harm it up for a week and they got nothing out of it.

Come on. Yeah. And then sources. They got a staff discount car or something. Exactly. Inside sources are saying like it was such a success. They decided to do it again. Yeah.

So how could it be a success if they haven't got any money? Yes, it must have been. And so they've decided, okay, well, we'll do it again. We'll kidnap Sugar. We've got heaps for a person. We've got heaps more for a horse. Totally. And here's the thing, right?

Chagar has never been found. What? What? It's a mystery episode. You're kidding me. Nope. Oh my God. How long do horses live?

Is it still alive? Okay. Another thing to Google. Sorry. Horses live. In their 20s maybe. I'll look up how long a giraffe lives as well, just for comparison. Majority of race horses have a racing career of only 23 years, yet their life expectancy is

25 to 30 years. Okay, well the giraffe still slightly, slightly behind again, 26 years in the wild, slightly longer in captivity. Hmm, okay. So I think we found the superior animal here. Horse. Absolutely. Yeah, okay, great.

How good are horses? It's got a draft on all accounts. I honestly just confused myself. I was like, are we saying horses. Horses are amazing. They're so good. I mean, drafts are great. Don't get me wrong, but a horse.

But maybe it's just that we see horses more. But I look at a draft and I'm like, how the fuck do you exist? Yeah. Crazy. How's your jack so long? You know when they like flick their head around too? Yeah. That makes me think I'd pull a muscle.

I'd pull a muscle I would. They're all neck. So, never been found. Yeah. I can't believe it. It's a mystery. So in 1999, a guy called Sean O'Callaghan, a former member of the IRA who had been working within the organization as an informant for the Garda since 1980, he published his autobiography

called The Informer, the true life story of one man's war on terrorism. So he's a spy. He's an informer. He's inside the IRA, but he's working for the garter. And in his book, he says that two weeks after Shigar's kidnap, IRA member Jerry Fitzgerald told O'Callaghan that he'd been involved in the theft and that Shigar had been killed early on in the process after the horse panicked and no one present could cope with him.

This is like a big, strong racing horse. Yeah. And they're like, fuck, we don't know what to do this horse. Oh, they didn't get any horse people involved. In the process, the horse damaged its left leg and the decision was made to kill it. This is what one guy's telling O'Callaghan. So this is possibly. Poor Shigar.

From Wiki again, according to O'Callaghan in August of 1983, in an effort to raise the money that they'd failed to do with the Shigar theft, Fitzgerald and his group attempted to kidnap the businessman Gallin Weston at his home in County Wicklow. The guarder had been forewarned and took over the house while Weston was in the UK. After a gun battle, Jerry Fitzgerald and three others were arrested. They received long prison sentences. O'Callaghan stated that essentially the same team that went to kidnap Shigar went to kidnap Galen Weston. So it's kind of like corroborating his story of like the police are aware of this attempted kidnapping.

So it kind of lines up. Writer Milton Toby queried O'Callaghan's story saying the IRA informed, was a confessed informer whose life depending on his ability to weave a convincing web of lies. Without more evidence, O'Callaghan's story is just that. An interesting story. Oh, okay. So he's kind of like discrediting him. But remember Derek Thompson, the racing commentator turned negotiator.

He thinks Sean O'Callaghan was legit. In the BBC article, it says details have subsequently emerged, which have only strengthened his conviction. A password that he had never revealed was included in the book written by Sean O'Carlyan. Who claimed the organisation had planned and committed the theft. So Thompson is like never told anybody one of these passwords and Sean O'Callaghan mentions that as a password. And he's like, well, that, how would he know that if he's not like somehow, not involved, but if he wasn't in those conversations. In 2008, a special investigation by the Sunday Telegraph obtained information from another IRA member who said that O'Callaghan had not been told the full story because the gang was so. embarrassed by what happened, and this is what they say happened. A vet that the IRA had arranged

to look after Shigar didn't turn up because his wife threatened to leave him if he did. And again, I got wives. Am I right? Oh my God, they ruin everything. Everything. Once the IRA realized that the Aga Khan was not going to pay, the army council ordered the horse to be released. But believing they were under close surveillance, it wasn't safe to release the horse without incriminating themselves, so they killed the horse instead. That's another sort of version of of events. But we still don't have the answers and people still speculate what happened to Chagher. Nobody has ever been found and people speculate where he could be. O'Callaghan said that as far as he knew, the remains had been buried on a farm of an IRA veteran from the 1940s. Derek Thompson

believes that kidnappers took Chigar to the south coast of Ireland and following the incident dumped his body in the sea. He has no evidence to support that theory but says it would at least explain the lack of a corpse. Yes. But there's also been like people have, you know, been digging stuff up and found like horse remains and people could be sugar. But it's like, I got no evidence of this, but.

But that's what I reckon. It kind of work. Yeah. It would work. Like if they'd lit a big bonfire or they'd push him off a cliff or he'd been in a pond somewhere. I mean, it works out. It makes sense.

If you think about it, it makes sense. Let's drain the eyes. oceans. Just in case. Just in case. There's a bit of a legacy as well in 99. In honour of Chagar, the Chagar Cup was inaugurated at Goodwood Racecourse in West Sussex. It was later moved to Ascot Racecourse and he's a competition between four teams,

Great Britain and Ireland, Europe, the rest of the world and an all-women team. Okay. The winners of the competition are presented with a trophy showing Chigar, and this was donated by the Aga Khan. And finally, it was, I mean, it's been turned into a few, like, there's lots of documentaries about it. There's a few racing straps. Racing straps. We bought a zoo is also about it loosely.

Jack and Mary wrote a porno. That's right. That's based on Shigar. People don't know that. So that's a great bit of movie trivia you had there, Matt. But the theft was also dramatized as the film, Shaggar, directed by Dennis Lewiston, and starring Ian Home, Bilbo Frickin' Baggins. and Mickey Rourke. And who is Mickey playing?

An Irish person, let me tell you that. The front end of the horse. Okay. I've seen little trailers. It looks horrendous. Who's Bilbo Ballons? Baggins. Baggins.

Ian Home. Ian Home. H-O-L-M. H-O-L-M. You know Bilbo Baggins. No, I don't not recognize him at all. Have you seen Lord of the Rings? I think I have.

Probably not for a while. I don't recall it, though. Well, I thought it was exciting. No, that is. But it was mostly that Mickey Rock was in a movie about it. Yeah, because it's from All of the Rings. But I thought Bilbo Baggins was the guy played Rudy. What?

No, don't know. I don't know who Rudy is. It doesn't matter. This guy from Encinna Man. Oh. What? No, Sean Aston? Sean Aston, no.

No, he's Sam Wise Gamgee. That's a name I've never heard of, but I do know Sean Austin. Okay. He's played Sam. Okay. That was a wild tale. And there was so much of that negotiation was so hard to follow. Totally.

What was going on? And it was, and that wasn't just in my writing of it. And they never figured, like, it never figured out. It was so convoluted. It absolutely was. And like, there was some sort of, there's a whole section about it on Wikipedia that was essentially like, people were like, why the fuck have they done this? Right.

There's no, like, clear objective. It seems like it was possibly for, like, media attention or to just cause a bit of nuisance or who knows. But, yeah, the fact that they've gone, we only want to talk to three journalists. And at the same time, they're also calling somebody else not completely related. And it's, and asking for different amounts of money. Yeah, like wildly different amounts. Yeah. It's so.

Like between 40 grand and multi-million. Yeah. Really strange, isn't it? Yeah. Have they kidnapped a horse? Or is it like two, they've broken up in two different factions. They know the horse is dead now and they're both just trying to milk out as much money as they can. Well, yeah.

One group's going, we'll just, let's ask for something achievable, 40 grand. Yeah. I read something that somebody was saying that they've probably split into like three groups where like there was two groups kind of negotiating with the two different sanctions. And then there's another group that's also looking after the horse or hiding the horse. Really strange. There was also like issues around, because the horse is insured as well, because it's worth so much money. I'm just like, I'm just finding it now because I didn't include it. But essentially, in classic insurance, because insurance, like, they'll do everything they can not to pay you, right?

Oh my God, are they going to claim, we haven't found the body, it could still be alive, that kind of thing? Well, the insurance with Lloyds of London observed that while theft was clear cut, the demand. land of a ransom meant that the action was considered extortion rather than theft, which meant the mortality and theft policies did not have to be paid out. So they're like, well, this is extortion, not theft. So we don't have to pay you anything. I think like, they definitely got some insurance money, but definitely not all that they maybe thought they were. Well, you know, they were making money out of a horse rooting. So, you know, maybe take a moment. and think about what you're doing.

Yeah, I don't, I didn't feel that bad. Do you feel comfortable with this? Making millions of dollars out of some horse rooting? Just think about it. It's a bit weird. Just think about it. That's all we're asking. Should have a think.

Yeah, okay. Now we've had to think about it. I can say that I was confused because Billbo Baggins was also played by Martin Freeman. That's what I think tripped me up. Gotcha. Yes, yes, yes, yes. He was like young and old in the movies, I guess. Right.

And that's why you thought of Sean Aston. Who's the friend of him, right? No, doesn't matter. I'm thinking of a third guy. You're thinking of... The guy from Wilfred. Yeah. You're thinking of Elijah Wood.

Elijah Wood. Okay, but I'm glad we got there eventually. Because I imagine people were yelling at their iPods. Anyway, does that bring us to the end of the report? Yes, it does. That's great. I've never heard of it. Me either.

I love one I've never heard of. I know a genuine surprise when you say it's a mystery. I didn't see it coming. Yeah. I grew up loving horse racing. And I've slipped out of it a bit, but still, I just feel. fucking love those horses. They're such beautiful animals.

And it is, yeah, it is, I get why it's, people love it. Just watching them run is pretty awesome. But yeah. Anyhow, that brings us to everyone's favorite section of show where we get to thank some of our fantastic Patreon supporters. Before we get to that, Dave, I just brought in a little package. You mind opening that up? It's from our friend James.

Oh, my goodness. Is this what I think it is? I think, well, I don't know, but I think it could be. Well, I'm thinking it is a doo ghost on beer. That's right. And that's what the label is saying. Fantastic. James is the official Dugel on a podcast brewer.

Yes. And this is the second batch. Second batch. Oh, have you seen it on the side here? There's a question. Have you read this before? No. We'll see if you can hear this.

This is what James's beer says on the side. It says, as always, to get us onto a topic, let's start with a question. In the US, what cocktail do Americans celebrate on the 10th of July? 10th of July. Because the 4th of July is probably some sort of red, white and blue cocktail. Because that... So purple. They've got a distinctive flag over there that's red, white and blue.

They're the only ones. The answer is very close to my heart and my taste parts. Oh, pie. Cherry pie. Do you like peanut kaleata? The answer is pinacolada pie. The answer is pinacolada. Pineacolata.

This is a... This is a pinacolada do goes on. That's a pet. Oh, wow. It says just a little kish-pinnikilada sour made with pineapple, lime and coconut to help say, how good is life? And that might give you a little hint as how long it took me to deliver those two. It's the end of April.

I picked them up off James from Bodrigi where he's one of the brewers there, which is a great pub in brewery in Melbourne. Deuce of favour. But, yeah, I picked them up before Christmas. And I forget every time I see you. I'm like, oh, damn it. Weekly. Yes.

And there's a little asterix here saying, best drunk while in international waters. Oh, fantastic. Let's get on a barge. On a barge. On a barge. Thank you so much, James. Thank you.

You love it. What a legend. But now we've got to thank some of our fantastic Patreon supporters. And you can get involved if you get along to patreon.com slash dogo on pod. There's a bunch of different levels, different rewards. You know, you can get bonus episodes. You get access to the nicest corner of the internet. the do go on Patreon Facebook group.

You also get to vote on topics like Jess's topic today was voted on by the listeners, I believe. Yep, that is right. You know, you get a Christmas card on certain levels. You know, it depends. There's lots of different stuff. Anyhow. Something for everyone. One of the things we like to do is called the fact quote or question section.

If you sign up on the Sydney-Shaunberg level, you get involved in this. This actually has a little journal go, something like this. Fact quote or question. D-D-D-DING. She always remembers that she loves to sing. And the way it works is you get to give us a fact quote or question or brag or suggestion. Oh, really, whatever you like. You also get to give yourself a title.

I read four out each week. And I don't read them until I read them. And here's the first one. It comes from Katie Clay's, aka CEO, brackets, charismatic, egotistical, overlord. Colts leader. Close bracket. And Katie's got a question writing. I've been binging a lot of times.

time travel stuff of late and wondered if you were equipped with the DeLorean with every episode of Do Go On on on tape, would you use it to go back in time and change the future? You had the DeLorean? Would you go back? So we have to listen to our own podcast while we travel back in time? Can we put something else on? That's the monkey paw part of it. Oh, right.

Constantly. You can go change the time, but you got to listen to yourself. Jesus Christ. You got to cringe. Especially the early stuff. I'm like, shut up. Oh, I'm like that with all the stuff. My voice sounds different.

Does it? Yeah, it's dropped as I've aged. It's matured. So would we go back in time and change the future? Oh, that shit's super dangerous, though. It is very dangerous. But what if I could go back in time and make us beggillionaires? Okay.

Maybe we could go back and put some money on some... I've already forgotten his name. Shaggar. Shagar. Shagar. You know? Yeah. We bet it's going to finish fourth.

He could have made a fortune, betting that it would finish fourth specifically, so much so that I think you'd get done. for race fixing. I'm going to say, I mean, I definitely probably would, but I also probably shouldn't. Yeah, I don't know it's a good idea. You know that episode of The Simpsons where he kept accidentally changing little things and then donut was raining from the sky and stuff. Yeah, yeah, yep, yep.

And he ended up having to live with a lot where everything was the same part from everyone had lizard tongues. Yeah. That's a scientific show. I think maybe I'd go back in time and try not to change the future, but maybe just to experience time. Yes, that's more. what I'd like to do. Yeah, I'd like to be experiencing it, but I don't want to ruin everything.

I don't want to ruin everything. No, but maybe you could, because I feel like you could, you'd try to make it better when you, you know, warn people about COVID, stop World War I, all that sort of thing. Kill baby Hitler. Yeah. But that would change so many things that there would be other tragedies that would come from, surely. Do you know what I'd do is I'd go back in time with the money that I have now, and I'd buy a house because I probably could.

Like a whole house. Yeah, yeah. If you go far back, kind of. Right? And then I would, I would go back to now, and I'd have had a house this whole time. Nice. But what do you'd have to do to make the currency, you know, travelable?

You'll have to convert into gold bullion or something. Shub it up my ass. You're going to have to get gold mule yourself back to the past. Shit out the gold, take it to the bank. Gold mill, yeah. Are you willing to do that? That seems like a bit of work, doesn't it? That's fine.

So that's a yes from Jess and the no from that no. Also, I mean, I feel very lucky. I've lived a good life. But there's definitely, you know, people have died young that I could save their lives and stuff, which is tricky because you don't know what the flow-on effects of that. That would mean other people don't live. And, you know, it's, I'm glad I don't have to make that decision.

Yeah, it's almost too much pressure. And here I was just thinking it's the only way I could get into property. Well. You're thinking I could save people's lives. I'm like, hmm, I could have a home. Yeah. And I think that sums us up. You're always thinking about houses and roofs. Yeah, well, I play the Sims. Oh, yeah. You're always thinking about building houses. Yeah, I am. You're a constructioner. I am. Katie Clothes, thanks so much for that. You are an egotistical

overlord. No doubt about it. And you've really messed us up there. The next one comes from William Hofstadler. Something that Katie didn't do, didn't answer our own question. Oh, yeah. All right, because that would have really taken the pressure. We need to see someone else before we go, oh, okay. Yeah. We need a starting point. We're sheep.

Yeah. Williams' title is arg. And. That's nice. Yeah, I think that is very nice. I love that. Sums up William pretty well. William's also asking a question writing,

What animal would you ride into battle? Oh, well, for me, it's got to be a giraffe. Love those things. They're quick. They can see. They can see from miles. And I'd also, I'd sit on its head so I'm up high. Oh, yeah.

Can't get me? Can't get me? All right. Can I get me up here? You sit on the hand. Interesting. I'd go elephant, I think. Same sort of thing.

Size, you know. I'm magnificent beast. They'll fuck you up. I'll go, um, hippo. Good one. It's sort of like it, it's, you know, land and water. Totally. Yeah, we'd be bringing the scuba gear, though.

It potentially would drown me. Absolutely. I don't think, I don't think an elephant. I don't think an elephant would, and they can swim. Yeah. But hippos can't. Remember, they go to the bottom and then they run along the bottom. Yeah, yeah, they're too heavy to swim.

Definitely drown. What about a rhino? They've also got that horn. I think you could win with a rhino. Or a wombat. William says, personally, I would choose goose. Oh, fantastic choice. You'll die quickly.

Yeah, very, very quickly. But it'll be really cute in the meantime. Are we talking about goose the dog? I assume so. Oh, okay, fantastic. He didn't say a goose or he just said goose. Yeah, he just said I would choose goose with a capital of So I think that is, that's the animal.

That's the dog goose. He's still on goose. But honestly, you put anything on top of goose and he has a little meltdown. Yeah. Crumbles. He'll flick you off real quick and then he'll run into battle and because he'll want to say hello to everybody and then they'll kill him very quickly. Hello, Knight and Chiming Anna. Oh, yeah, he's done.

So we're going in with a giraffe, an elephant and a rhino. Yes. Fantastic. I think we're going to look great. I think we look fantastic as we get slaughtered. Is it us three versus goose or God? I guess so. So good luck to your goose.

I was thinking William would be with us. Yeah, great. You're with us or against us? And everyone else would see us and they go, whoa, whoa, whoa, won't we talk about a peaceful solution? And we say, of course, we can. That's what we wanted in the first place. Yeah. But I did promise my elephant, it could fuck shit up.

Yeah. So I'm glad we're going to use our words, but my elephant is going to destroy your house. Yeah, but it'll spare your family. If you can get them out in time. It's on its way. Thank you, William. The next one comes from Daniel Ryan, aka too tired to think of something clever. Can you make something up on the spot, Matt?

No. Daniel Ryan, Dr. Dr. of annual iron. The answer is still no. And Daniel's got a question writing, Hey, two of the stars from one of my favorite shows when I was younger, the Lex Luthor and Clark Kent actors from the TV show Smallville, I have a re-watch podcast where they discuss the episode

episode and the behind-the-scenes stuff from every episode. Sorry to shout out another pod. Ha ha ha. How dare you, Daniel? Ha-ha. And my question is this. If you could co-host a re-watch podcast with the stars of a show, which show would you choose? If Matt wants, I'll allow him to re-watch Saints games and have players of the game on. That's not bad. That's not bad. Daniel's got an answer. Do you want to hear it? Sure, yes, please. My choice would probably be supernatural. I think the stories behind that show would be fun to talk about with the actors.

Thanks and keep up what you do. Dana Ryan, you keep up what you do. I think that I don't know what I would do. I would host a rewatch podcast with Bob Franklin and we would watch the episode of the librarians that I was in when I had one line. Oh, yeah, great. And that would be the only episode we discussed.

What's your line? I don't think I've seen that. Madeline, enjoy this? Do you think it's the same in Back to the Future? Part 2. Thank you. That's a great line. Wow. What was your role? I was a film buff. Wow. I was a film student. Someone was giving a film presentation in the library and I'd gone along and I had to pop up my question. Ask a very nerdy question. Was Bob the director? No, Bob Frankl was in the episode because he was one of the main cast. Who was, it was the Wayne Hope and. And Robin Butler is their show. Yeah, the Grist Mill production company.

I think Wayne Hope was directing. So funny. I still think one of the funniest things I've ever seen is an ad he was in for soup. And apparently they just sort of let him go. They let him do it. I don't remember. And he's sort of like being serious, but it's his blender and he's no good. And it ends up just being a canned soup thing.

I'm like, that's just let funny people have fun and they'll make better ads than, no offense to ad writers out there. I think you do fantastic work. Yeah, clearly, they take up most of your brains basically with their jingles. But that was so funny It's obviously a ticket back Into the big time If you used to be on a TV show That has a cult following

Like the office or something 10 years ago Now you just watch the rewatch podcast But imagine if I did a full season We just talked about my one line With different actors That's good Could I do the same for Ronnie Chang's show

Absolutely you should My line which was Fuck off you nut fuck That's even better That's great And your character was a nut-fuck? No, Ronnie was dressed as a bag of nuts,

and I was just a uni student walking past. But you were about 48 years old at that time playing a uni student. Have you heard of mature age students? And I was 170. That would be, I'd listen to that episode, I'd listen to that series, listen to that whole podcast. Sounds great. I'm not a narcissist, so I don't want to watch myself.

Okay. So I think I would do the Golden Girls. With Betty White. Oh, that'd be great. Oh, that actually wouldn't be so awesome. I think I'm probably going to take up Daniel on old Saints episodes. Fuck, it'd be Parks and Rec. I'd do Parks and Rec.

What the fuck am I talking about? Quiro would be great because it's like different casts every week. Parks and Rec, you've already done Golden Girls? I'm doing Golden Girls. Jeez. Yeah, I think Poirot would. Poirot and also, actually, who am I kidding? I would absolutely watch Diagnosis Murder with Shane Barry.

Oh. And every week you could play Shane Barry a dick with Shane Barry and Dick. Since their answers change. Yeah. That's nice. And I call it diagnosis, fun. Oh, yeah. That's great.

I mostly, I just couldn't remember any of my lines from shows I've been in. And I don't think they were very good. Yeah. Yours are good. Yeah, my line was great. Mine was, I was also in a Wayne and Robin show. Investigators? Investigators.

That sounds right for a podcast. And I was a, what's what I call it? Librarian. No, a fucking green grocer. Dog wrestler. I was a dog wrestler. You had a dog, though. That was in Naomi's show.

My only other credit. Check me out on Netflix. Sounds like you got two podcasts you can start then. Yeah, wow. That'd be fun. Fantastic. Thank you so much, Daniel, for that question. So, I'd just imagine Simpsons with the Simpsons cast would be pretty sick.

Imagine all you had to do for a podcast was watch an episode of, a TV show. Oh, yeah. Like, we're idiots. That we've set ourselves up. With homework. So much homework. But we learn, we live.

I don't learn. And we laugh. You learn? I laugh. That's for sure. I definitely retain something. I've got nothing, but God, I laugh. The last one this week comes from Sophie Touter.

And that's how you pronounce it. Don't let me forget again, please. And Sophie Tudor's title is group mom. But I'm not very full. physical so go see your dad if you need a hug okay that's fair and sophie's uh giving us a swap announcement writing oh this is another great perk of being a patron sophie organized these these gift swaps yeah with patrons from around the world so nice done snacks and books and a few other things in the past now sophie writes i don't know about everyone else but my twenty twenty

has been a bit of a shit show so far. Sorry to do that, Sophie. I was just about to check. We went on a plane with it, but that was 2022. Because I was wired for a split second that we ruined it. We went on a Concord together. So let's do something happy and fun. Later today, I will go to the nicest corner of the internet

and post the sign up for Top swap. Oh, maybe T-shirts is coming out. That's what I've seen. Okay. It's a T-shirt swap, but Top-Swap is more fun to say. You are 100% correct. Top swap. Top swap.

Sorry for rambling. Jesus, that's so efficient. Not at all a ramble at all. Sorry for rambling and thank you so much for all the work you put into this network. You're the only three getting me through this year. Oh, Sophie, I really hope you is picking up. I mean, really appreciate all those swaps you do. And just your vibe in general.

Totally. Such a great. We're so lucky to have you in our little community. It's so lovely. I fully concur with that. Feel very lucky to have involved, Sophie. Dave. Oh, so.

No, we've got, we do have such a lovely group. So lovely. And there's, you know, some, some of them are our favourites. Sophie's on the list. Sophie, she's in the top, top 1%. The ones that organise us to go on a concord. Yeah. Absolutely up there.

So nice. So lovely. Thank you so much, Sophie. Top swap. Top swap. It's fun to say. So fun. Daniel William and Katie as well.

Fantastic facts, quotes and questions. So yeah, if you get on the Sydney-Shanberg level, you can get involved in that as well. But yeah, the top swap. Top swap. It'll be going all around the world. It's so much fun. I wonder if I can get involved. Is anyone from Gary?

Can someone send me some Gary merch? Oh, that'd be sick. I've already got some great Gary match. People have already said that to you. I would say the bulk of my wardrobe is now Saints Gary or Meredith Music Festival. Yeah, a couple of friends of roams for good messages. That's true. It's pretty friends all heavy too.

All right. Well, that brings us to the next part of the show where we like to thank a few of our other great supporters. Jess, you normally come on with a bit of a game based on the topic. Let's name their horse. Oh, fantastic. Nice, of course, inspired by sugar. May I kick it off? Please.

From Balaclava appropriately here in Melbourne, Victoria. I'd love to thank Meg Haycroft, also very appropriate, hey. Balaclava, gee, were you made for this episode, Meg? Meg's horse is, of course, called... Megnog. Meg. That's so good. Megnog.

Megnog. Megnog. I reckon Megnog is going to be a real champion horse. A real special horse, may you say. Thank you so much for your support. Meg, really appreciate it. Next up, I'd love to thank from Washington, D.C. in the United States, Stephen Major. Stephen Major, up from Capitol Hill.

Yeah, what about King Dolly? King Dolly. Like King Wally, the famous Queensland rugby player. League player. Apologies to rugby fans. Thank you so much, Stephen Major, aka King Dolly. Well, that's the horse. Stephen Major's riding King Dolly.

Yes. To victory. To victory, yes. These are all in different races and all winning races. All group one. All group ones. Does that mean really good? That's like top, that's the top group.

Guys, I've logged on to a horse name generator. Oh my God. This could change our whole lives. Logged on. With the Duke on email. How much spam will we be getting from the horse generator? We already get so much spam. What do you need?

What inputs do you need to spit something out? Nothing. Whoa. That works everywhere. All right. And we can modify if we need to, but I doubt we will. This is a horse naming generator after all. I'd love to also thank, finally, for me, from Henderson in Nevada in the United States,

it's Cynthia Sanford. Spooky Whisper. Oh, my God. Okay, that is way better than what we were doing. With apologies to Megnog and King Dolly. No, hang on. They're pretty good. They're pretty good.

I think spooky whispers in the right ballpark. It's given me spooky and whisper separately. I've put them together. Yes. Beautiful. So there's still a human involved here. 100%. This could not happen without me.

Spooky Whisper is so great. I'll give you some more lovely names here, Jess. I'd like to think from Maurer in Queensland or Moora. It's Dean Drennan. Toronto tap dance. Did you bring them together as own? Oh, that's fantastic. These are working better together than separate.

Toronto tap dance. Imagine calling a horse Toronto. Yorn. Toronto tap dance. I'm in. All my money on Toronto. That sounds like an 11 to 8 horse have I ever heard one. TTTD.

Coming down the outside is Toronto Tampats. That's fun to say. I would like to thank from Ridgecrest, California. It's Annabelle Martino. Stormy Goliath. Oh, God, Stormy Goliath is fantastic. I outsource everything to this thing. And find out of everything.

Naming my child? What? Doing the shopping? Yeah. What should I? Botto, Storming Goliath. All right. Okay.

Sorry, honey. You asked for staples. From East Grand Rapids in Michigan. It's the C-3. Whitewater Bob. Whitewater Bob. That's awesome. That is good fun.

The C-3 as well. Fantastic name. E. Grand Rapids sounds like a place I like to visit. Yeah. Yeah. Is it my turn to thank some people? A grand. Yeah.

Okay. I would love to thank. From Scottsdale in Tasmania, Katie, Salisbury. Okay. Oh, tornado dreamer. Oh, my. Yes.

There's no way we would have come up with anywhere near as good as these names. Tornado dreamers. That's really good. I would also love to thank from Cannon Falls in Minnesota. I reckon it is, yeah, or Maine. No, Minnesota. Minnesota. I'd love to thank Andrew.

Oh, Splitsdozer. Wow. Andrew Splitsosa. That's incredible. All right. From Cannon Falls. Jackpot Geronimo. Jackpot Dronimo is taking them on the outside.

Coming down, straight number one. How many sweats are there? I don't know. I've never seen a horse race. It could be a couple. Depends every track's different. That's what's beautiful about them. Coming straight down the corkscrew now.

Flipping upside down. Oh, the jockey has fallen to his death. But the horse continues on and wins. Group one, slipper dip. What happens if a jockey falls off and the horse still wins? It doesn't win, unfortunately. That's not fair. Yeah, the horse is not all the work.

That's not fair. Sorry, jockeys, don't come out. But if the horse, if the jockey hangs on, Matt. Yeah. And they die. Yeah, that was an early episode of Who Newt asked that question. It was a funny little loophole. They gave him the, the, well, you know, the horse won, right?

Yeah. That rings a bell. Was I there or have I just listened? You might have listened. I'm a big fan. I'm a big fan of her. Oh, that's very nice. Boppa.

It's my faves. And not out of obligation. Because you are obliged. Oh, 100% but I actually enjoy it. And finally, I would love to thank from Minneapolis, Cade and Matthew Kittins. Wow, kittens. All right, last one, here we go. Cade and Matthew Kittins.

Or Marengo Splash. Oh, my God. Moringo Splash. That sounds like that's got to be the cocktail and the triptych club tonight. Don't fucking tell me. Okay, no, you're right. No, fair. She's got the finger out.

And she normally doesn't pull it out. No, that's serious. Yeah. I'm fucking, maybe you need to pull your finger out. Sorry about that, Bob. Jesus, fucking Christ. I'm so sorry about that, Bob. I stepped out a lawn there.

I'm really sorry. Unbelievable. Please, Bob, please forgive me. Well, I don't know that I can. Bob, can you forgive me and please join me in thinking, Cade, Matthew, Andrew Katie, the C, Annabel Dean, Cynthia, Stephen and Meg from Megnog. Megnog's very good.

Finally, I mean, imagine what we could have come up with. If we went back in time and changed it. To a world where there was no horse naming. I'm going to use a horse name generator for other stuff too. Yeah, great. I think we've got to bring that in. That could be a game changer each week. All right.

Now, Dave, you're a very good explaining how the TripDitch Club works. Well, the TripTage Club, it's our clubhouse, our Hall of Fame, if you will, our hangout zone to celebrate the people that have been supporting the show for three consecutive years. They've already had a shout out a couple of years back, but to thank them again, we induct them into this Hall of Fame called the Triptitch Club, and inside it's a bar, it's a clubhouse, it's a gig, it's a chill-out area, there's a hockey table, there's billiards, there's bands that play, Jess is behind the bar, every week she adds a new cocktail and a new hors d'oeuvre or a bit of food.

Must be stressful because you keep, the old menus still exist, right? These are just adding to it. Yeah, there's now hundreds of drinks. But I think it helps that we kind of add slowly. So it really feels like every week I have to learn one new recipe. Yes. And your mind is very good at retaining old information. Yeah, and I think it's muscle memory.

Yeah. A lot of the time, too, people will be like, can I have this? And it's from like episode 50. And I'm like, yeah, no less. So that's nice. But yeah, it is a lot, but, you know, that's just part of the perks. I probably also, which is obviously a catchphrase. But one of their helpful things as well is that most of the things you've put together

over the last year, undrinkable. Yeah, there's a lot of dog shit on there. Yeah, so it makes the choice a lot easier. Yeah, and very, very hot soup. Yeah, the soup is too hot. And it is not cooling down. Dangerously hot, someone's so. I lost my mind that episode.

I laughed so hard. I loved it. It's too hot. I remember it well. I have a special cocktail this time. Oh, great. It's called the celestial jelly bean. And what I've done is I've got jelly bean-bune infused vodka.

Remember when you would do that as a teenager? and it's essentially just that, but then with other stuff. That sounds great. I never did that as a teenager, but I love to. Yeah, and put Skittles in vodka, and you just let it sort of sit there, and then you've got Skiddle-flavored vodka. No, but. Oh, with Red Rippers, did them.

No. Oh, yes, did that one. Yeah. I go to red. Yeah. That sounds awesome, though. It was awesome. I did go to Frostbites, though, and they had the sloppies.

Oh. Of all those, like the, I used to love the musk. Flavoured slushy. A musk slushy. So they'd be, I think they did that. They just had the... Yeah. But I played a premium. You were doing it at home for much better value. Auntie Donna did it at one of their about tonight specials with vodka.

And then the show was over and we just had a lot of vodka left over. So we were just doing shots. Okay. And then I went to a pub where I went to Spleen because that's where everybody was because it was a Monday night. And I walked in thinking I looked to quite. quite sober. And Adam Knox told me later, that was not the case. Were you on the lineup? Hi, everybody! They're like, oh, fuck.

Were you on the show? No, just catching up with friends. That would have been fun to see you on stage off the chops. Dave, oh wait, so yeah, we've got a cocktail there. That's cocktail, yeah. And Dave, do you have a band book this time? You're never going to believe it. I have booked this week. We've been trying to get this guy for years. One of my all-time favorite songs, he'll be performing it. Peter Sars-Tip and he'll be performing, where do you go to, my lovely?

I want to know. A great track, no, a different song to that one. What? How is it a different song to that one? I want to know. Yeah, that's what. No, I'm afraid it's a different song. Oh, okay.

What? Where do you go to My Lovely? Do you know that song? No. It's amazing that I've booked him this week. This is the coincidence because he, in the, there's a lyric in the song where he says, Your name, it's heard in high places.

You know the Aga Khan. You sent you a racehorse for Christmas and you keep it just for fun. For a laugh. Ah, ha. How? And is this the song you actually know? How do you? This is a great song.

It's featured heavily in the film The Darjeeling Limited, the Wes Anderson movie. No, I haven't. It's a great track. Love it. Big family. Wow. But when you said Aga Khan, that is why it rang a bell for me because of the Peter Sarset zone.

Wow. And I booked him. Fantastic. And that's coincidence. Absolutely. A beautiful coincidence. Week after week, he has an amazing coincidence. Does that bring us up to the time where I start bringing some people in?

Yeah. We've got eight inductees this week. Great. Love to welcome in. A little theory of the mind. I'm standing on the door. About to lift the velvet rope. We've got a clipboard.

If I read out your name, you jog on in because the crowd, everyone who's already in there is cheering your name. They're losing their freaking minds. Dave's on this stage. He's emceeing. He's hyping you up. Jess is hyping up. Dave. Yep.

Are we ready? Yes. All right. Lifting the rope. we go. Please welcome. Dave, hold my hand. Oh, here we go.

From Manchester and New Hampshire in the United States, it's Jill Stewart. It's a real thrill, Stuart. Woo! So we'll hand out and shake Jill's hand. From Address Unknown. Can I only shoo him from deep within the fortress of the mulls. It's Tim Randall. I'm a real fandal of Tim Randall.

Yes. From Bray or Bray or Brie, it's from California in the United States. It is Brandon Kilpatrick. Some people like their oysters Kilpatrick, but I prefer my Brandon's Kilpatrick. Yeah, come on in Brandon. From Orlando, Florida in the United States, it's Patrick Plemondon. Flamondon. I am a Famondon.

Okay, you're going to have to talk with you that one. No, just keep going. Don't ruin the flow. Orlando, your magic to me, Patrick. I've got a plam. Yes. It's to hang out with Patrick Plam. Yeah.

From Cincinnati and God's Country, Ohio in the United States, it's Andrew Hettrick. This night is about to get Hedrick. Sounds a bit like hectic. Yeah. And a bit like hat trick. Yeah, I'm on a hat trick. From Richmond in Virginia in the United States, it's Luna. I love you to the moon and back.

If you'll be, if you'll be my baby. From Edinburgh and Great Britain, it's Jasmine Linderman. Jasmine. You're coming in? You're the Linda man. You da Linda man. There it is. That's pretty good.

I was good because written down, it looks like jazz mine. I was going to say, you're jazz mine, but that sounds weird. It does sound weird. So I've gone with you. Thank you so much, Matt. Appreciate you. Finally, from address unknown can only shoo him again from within the fortress of the moles. It's Mariko.

Mariko. The freco. Yeah. In a good way. Yeah. High five. To make sure that they're in on a joke. They know that we mean that as praise.

Welcome in Mariko, Jasmine, Luna, Andrew Patrick, Brandon, Tim and my cousin, Jill. Make yourselves at home. grab yourself one of those drinks that Jess said and... The celestial jelly bean. Have a listen to that. Peter Sarve. Some very hot soup from the 60s. And let us know, Jess, anything we need to let them know.

If you want to go onto that horse name generator, it's on the story shack.com forward slash tools, forward slash horse hyphen name, hyphen generator. Check it out. I just picked up the pen What? I was going to try and write it down. You can also suggest a topic. There's a link in the show notes

and you don't have to be a Patreon to suggest the topic. If there's a story that you think would make for a good episode, send it our way. We love your suggestions. And you can find us at DoGoOnPod across all social media and do go on pod.com is our website. If you want to hear about future tours and live shows and that sort of stuff,

we're behind the scenes talking about a few expectations. exciting things. The patrons will be the first to hear about it. But then if you follow us on social media, that's another place to find out. So certainly you'll be the first to hear about and first to be able to get tickets if you go to Patreon.com slash do go on pod

and sign up on any level. But also follow us on do go on pod on. We're close to 10K on Instagram in particular. Whoa. We'd really like to. That's what, that's almost half of what you have, Jess. Could you send a couple hour away, mate? I try, but they're like, no thanks.

No, no. tent. We're just here for Jess's hot girl era. Yes. And boy, boy, are we in... We're in the thick of things. I'm so freaking hot right now. Oh my God.

You're hotter than this soup. Dave, boot this time. Hey, we'll be back next week with another episode, but until then, also thank you so much for listening. Until then, goodbye. Later! Bye! Don't forget to sign up to our tour mailing list so we know where in the world you are

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