Former Shergar jockey dies in the UK

One of the greatest big-race jockeys of the modern era and the rider of Shergar, died yesterday.

Walter Swinburn was 55 and had been suffering from epilepsy.

Sir Michael Stoute, who handed a 19-year-old Swinburn the ride on Shergar, described him as "one of the great talents, with the best hands of any of them".

Frankie Dettori, the three-time champion jockey, described Swinburn's death as a "terrible loss". He said: "It's awful news. He was a friend, a guy I looked up to, someone I sat next to in the changing room. At 55, it's so young and my heart goes out to his family. My dad rode with his dad, so our families have links going back a long way."

He retired over a decade ago and ran a successful breeding operation, Genesis Green Stud, in Newmarket.

Swinburn, who was nicknamed 'The Choirboy' because of his youthful looks, won the 1981 Derby by a record margin of 10 lengths on Shergar.

Shergar became a household name when he was stolen from the Aga Khan's Ballymany Stud in Kildare on Feb 8, 1983, when his groom had been held at gunpoint to help load him in a horsebox.

A £2 million ransom was demanded, later reduced to £40,000, but no money was ever handed over and Lloyds paid out £7 million to the syndicate owning him that June.

The horse was never found.