Belfast company investigates Shergar disappearance

A Channel 4 documentary, produced by Belfast company Mint Productions, is to investigate the disappearance of Shergar, the most famous racehorse of his day.
The film, ‘Who Kidnapped Shergar?’, reveals new evidence about the champion stallion's mysterious kidnap in 1983.
It is the first programme to be made by Mint Productions for Channel 4. The broadcaster has now shown an interest in helping to fund the growth of this small Belfast company with a view to it developing more programmes for national broadcast.
Who Kidnapped Shergar? is to be shown on Thursday March 18 at 9pm, to coincide with the Cheltenham Gold Cup, a key date in the horse-racing diary.
Shergar was a racing legend, the horse that came from behind to win the Derby with ease. When he was retired to stud in Ireland in 1981, Shergar looked set to make his owners millions. But one night in February 1983, armed and masked men burst into his stables and kidnapped the champion stallion. Shergar was never seen again.
For two decades, Shergar's fate has been shrouded in a fog of secrets, rumours and conspiracy theories. Groups as disparate as the New Orleans Mafia and Colonel Gadaffi have been linked to the case. The documentary celebrates the remarkable career of Britain's favourite racehorse and investigates who really took Shergar - and why.
The documentary looks set to put the small Belfast-based production company onto the radar of national television broadcasters. Channel 4 has committed a package of support worth £35,000 to help fund the company's development. The funding is subject to Mint being able to attract joint funding from regional agencies.
The company - which also has an office in Dublin aimed at the Irish market - currently has two other documentaries in production: ‘De Lorean’, about the rise and fall of the car company, for BBC 4, and ‘Workers Strike’ for BBC Northern Ireland.
The Channel 4 investment is subject to partnership funding, in line with the broadcaster's 'Creative Cities' strategy. Creative Cities is Channel 4's collective name for its ambitious programme of activities throughout the regional cities of the UK and partnership projects are a key part of this strategy. Earlier this month, the broadcaster recently part-funded the £260,000 expansion plans for another Belfast production company, DoubleBand Films, with partnership funding from the Northern Ireland Film & Television Commission's new Company Development Fund.
(GB)