A VOICE FROM THE PAST

Winston Churchill looks pleased with himself - dressed in civvies astride a horse. And, he probably has every right to be, after making a daring escape from Pretoria to Lourenco Marques, now Maputo, at the height of the Boer War.
(Photo : Sunday Times)

“A unique photograph of Churchill after
he had escaped from Boer captivity,
surfaced in the Sunday Times”

Farm tours at Summerhill and Hartford House are popular items. Students of history, fans of racing and those who are mesmerized by the Midlands and the mystique of our sport, travel from as far afield as Johannesburg for the day, take in the tour and a bit of lunch at the nation’s Number One restaurant, before they are back on the N3 northbound.

Others prefer to do it the leisurely way, and they check in for a couple of nights at Hartford. While we’d recommend the latter for its relaxation, we’d not want to deny you the pleasure, either way.

If you’ve done the tour, you’d know that in the summer of 1899, a young Winston Churchill was a visitor to the Moors of Hartford. We all know too, of his capture up the road from us, and his presence at the mother of all battles, Spioenkop. Remarkably, on Spioenkop that day (just 45 minutes from us,) and drawn together by dint of the peculiar attractions of our region, were five of the most influential people of the 20^th century. Louis Botha, the first Prime Minister of South Africa, (who together with Hartford’s Sir Frederick Moor and his brother, John (the former a colonial Prime Minister, and the latter a senator in the first South African government, attended a class of just 10 students at Hermansburg Junior School;) Deneys Reitz, former Deputy Prime Minister of South Africa and later a Field Marshall in the British army, he was there; our man, Jan Smuts, the man the world chose to write the charters for the League of Nations and the United Nations after the respective World Wars, and the man Churchill appointed as his successor in the war cabinet should anything have become of him, he was there. In the pantheon of great South Africans, you’d have Smuts up there with Nelson Mandela, who ironically was captured just to the south of us seventy two years later; Winston Churchill himself, later to become Prime Minster of England and arguably the greatest Englishman of all-time, he was on Spioenkop that day; and amazingly, the man who liberated India in 1947, Mahatma Ghandi, was there as a stretcher bearer.

Just recently, a unique photograph of Churchill after he had escaped from Boer captivity, surfaced in the Sunday Times. It’s apparently coming up for auction in England shortly, and there’s been a bit of a story about it. It turns out the picture was taken in our immediate vicinity, after Churchill’s escape from Boer custody.

From 1896 to 1897 Churchill served as a soldier and journalist in India. In September 1898 he fought at the battle of Omdurman in Sudan, taking part in what is often described as one of the last true cavalry charges. In 1899, he resigned his commission, and was assigned to cover the Boer War for the London Morning Post.

In October that year he accompanied a scouting expedition in an armoured train near Ladysmith, in what was then Natal, but was captured by the Boers. Although he was a war correspondent, he was armed with a pistol when captured, so was treated as a prisoner of war and held in what had been the Staats Model Skool in central Pretoria.

Churchill managed to escape, and the Boers put a £25 price on his head. Travelling by foot and train - where he hid under coal sacks - he eventually reached safety, 480km away, in Portuguese-controlled Lourenço Marques. The escape made him a celebrity back in Britain and he was elected to parliament in 1900.

BOKS AND BIRDS

Bismarck du Plessis
(Image : SA Rugby)

“But this isn’t a sentimental business…
especially in South Africa.”

Summerhill is not traditional Blue Crane country, so when six of our national birds checked in for the weekend at Ntaba Nqumo (Decision Hill) at the foot of the farm, the portents were good for a Springbok victory. They had chosen one of the most serene spots in the district, with views stretching across the length and the breadth of the Land of Legends. Named for the dilemma faced by the two generals on their next strategic move, this “koppie” is where former prime minister, Louis Botha, took command of the Boer forces from the hero of Majuba, General Piet Joubert, in November 1899. The sight before them surely inspired these two soldiers that this was a country worth fighting for.

In the end, the Springboks got home on Sunday, but it was a close-run thing in which the Welsh played out of their socks, and where our countrymen were anything but convincing. A margin of a single point was hardly suggestive of a team on its way to retaining the World Cup, and in the process the match took its toll in the way of injuries. Our go-to man, Victor Matfield, pulled a hamstring, and Jean de Villiers, whose pained expression as he left the field with a rib injury was a replay for him of the opening match at the 2007 World Cup, could be on his way home.

What the outcome may well have done, though, was signal an early warning of the shortcomings of the kick-and-chase game plan the Springboks persevere with, despite its lack of success in the last year since the rules changed. The modern game calls for the ball’s retention, and you kick your possession to attackers like the All Blacks and the Wallabies at your peril. The match probably also resolved a few selection issues, with Francois Hougaard’s try in the closing ten minutes underscoring the fact that Bryan Habana may well have reached his sell-by date. It took the replacement 10 minutes to score : Habana hasn’t done so in his last 10 matches. Bigger than that though, was the impact Bismarck du Plessis made when he replaced our captain. John Smit has been a talismanic leader of the Springboks for some time, and his 100 test matches are testimony to one of the finest captains to wear the green and gold.

But this isn’t a sentimental business, especially in South Africa, and if the Springboks are going to be at their effective best for the rest of the tournament, John Smit will have to do his inspiring from the bench, and from the change room. He may well have a role to play in the impact department in the closing 15 to 20 minutes of a match, especially when his experience and his leadership will be most needed, but to have him grinding away for 80 minutes is not only asking him to go beyond his most effective range, but it is to deny the Springboks the services of the most destructive Number Two in the world.

OPEN FOR BUSINESS : THE SUMMERHILL STALLION BARN

The Summerhill Stallion Barn is open for business…
(Photo : Greig Muir/Nicholas Goss/Leigh Willson)

THE “X FACTOR”

In the southern hemisphere, the first of September heralds the beginning of spring. At Summerhill, look around you and you see the first buds appearing on the willows and the poplars, while the acacias on the hills abounding Giant’s Castle are pushing out the first tiny signs that they’ve managed a winter in a territory they weren’t supposed to be suited to. This is the hillside on which the great general (and South Africa’s first Prime Minister,) Louis Botha assumed command of the Boer forces in November 1899, a moment rued by the British as he became the most feared soldier of the war.

Here was a man who understood the value of good horse breeding when it came to the deployment of his cavalry, and while the game has changed, the competition for the breeding of the best horses is just as intense these days.

Summerhill has assembled the strongest battery of stallions in its history : it is conceivably the most formidable line-up in the annals of South African breeding, and with the arrival of the reinforcements in the form of Brave Tin Soldier in the next couple of days. Wednesday it will be all systems go as Greig Muir opens the stallion barn for the commencement of the covering season.

At a gathering of the province’s breeders at Summerhill last Thursday, we talked about the roles of racing class and pedigree in the production of top sires, and there appeared to be a consensus that, while these two factors are critical in the evaluation of any potential stallion, the “X factor” is what sets the great ones apart.

Conversation then turned to what constitutes the “X factor”, and its seems it’s the gut feel we develop for a stallion that wakes us up at night. Perhaps it’s that moment in the race when he turns on the magic, maybe it’s his presence when he walks out in front of you, but whatever it is, it’s what takes your breath away. Advance bookings to stallions are the first indication that a horse has caught the imaginations of horsemen, and the way Brave Tin Soldier’s services have flown off the shelves this year, tells us that he has it.

Last year, it was A.P. Arrow and Admire Main, and now their foals are lending credence to the judgement of those who supported them. The season before it, was Mullins Bay and Stronghold that lit the fireworks. While Stronghold is sadly gone, the fact that in his third season, Mullins Bay is as popular a horse as there is in the barn, is the best indicator that even our strongest rivals have developed a healthy respect for what they’re seeing on the ground.

Both back from leave today, Greig and Linda Norval (stallion bookings) are fresh as daisies, and waiting for your calls. Those of us who’ve had to step up for their portfolios while they’ve been away, will be relieved. There’s been a deluge!

For more information please visit :
www.summerhill.co.za

or call :
Linda Norval
+27 (0) 33 263 1081

SOUTH AFRICA CELEBRATES A DOUBLE CENTURY

General Louis Botha
(Photo : Boer War) 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOUTH AFRICA

Hashim Amla’s outstanding knock of 129 in Dominica, West Indies, yesterday was not the only a century not out South Africans have woken up to this morning.

On the 31^st May 1910, the Union of South Africa came into being, anointing a man with close ties to Summerhill and Hartford, as Prime Minister. That this farm is steeped in old history is well known, but it’s a lesser known fact that Louis Botha, the second Anglo Boer War’s most successful general, took command of the Boer forces at the foot of this farm.

Besides, apart from the Lord Chief Justice, Lord de Villiers, the only one man to emerge from the Union talks (which brought about the Act of Union) with a knighthood, was Sir Frederick Moor, who together with his brother, Senator John Moor were the founders of what we know as Hartford House today. Of course, Hartford has been through many changes in its life, and today it celebrates the fact that it ranks as the only world-class hotel on a world-class stud farm in the world, as well as being home to one of the nation’s top restaurants.

Aside from these two gentlemen, Summerhill itself was home to Sir Frederick’s deputy (when he was Prime Minister of the Colony of Natal), Colonel George Richards, which means that for the last years of its existence as a colony, Natal was ruled from these two farms.

Happy birthday South Africa.