GOING RIGHT ALL THE TIME

National Yearling Sale Top Priced Filly - Lot 330 Purely Atomic
(Photo : Lisl King)

“Everything keeps going right, Toyota”

In the world of motoring, you get the Rolls Royces and you get the Toyotas. It’s no different in the horse breeding world, where some produce the “Rollers”, while we’ve always claimed to breed Toyotas, where great quality, outstanding dependability and excellent value are the watchwords.

However, that’s not to say that they’re all Yarises. Occasionally, to pay the wages and fund our capital projects, we need to sell the odd Prado for the sort of money that makes that kind of difference. You might be forgiven for thinking that Summerhill is predominantly associated with stallions, given the fuss we make with our stallion brochures and DVDs, and the dent they make on the nation’s sire logs, but we’re not bad when it comes to fillies either. When Checcetti trotted up in the Gerald Rosenberg Stakes (Gr.2) on Saturday, she became our third winner of that prized event in the past four seasons, and since the “Rosenberg” is run on the weekend of the National Yearling Sale each year, it makes for good advertising. It’s no coincidence then, that in each of those years when Spring Garland, Fisani and now Checcetti got their hooves on that trophy, we’ve also claimed the top priced filly at the big sale. When Spring Garland came home, her half-sister, Victory Garden made R1.5million; when Fisani took her turn, Blueridge Mountain reciprocated with a R2million haul; and now Purely Atomic scooped the pool with a R1.6 million bid from Mary Slack’s Wilgerbosdrift Stud. When it’s all over, she’ll be going back to Mary’s to produce the “Rollers”, while here at Summerhill, like our motor car namesakes, “everything keeps going right, Toyota”.

Enquiries :
Tarryn Liebenberg +27 (0) 83 787 1982
or email tarryn@summerhill.co.za
www.summerhill.co.za

GOLDEN GATES OF HARTFORD

Entrance to the Hartford Estate
(Photo : Leigh Willson)

“Bred, raised and trained at Hartford were the heroes
of every major race on the South African calendar”

Mick Goss
Summerhill CEOI remember the first time I entered the Hartford gates, like it was yesterday. Here was the greatest private breeding enterprise in South African history, here was a driveway adorned with old flower pots dating back to the 40s, bearing the names of 48 gladiators, all champions or the next best thing. Bred, raised and trained at Hartford were the heroes of every major race on the South African calendar, their supremacy so marked that when he penned his treatise on the great private racehorse nurseries of the world, Sir Mordant Milner spoke of England’s Lord Derby and the Aga Khan; of Marcel Boussac, the founder of the Christian Dior organisation in France; of Federico Tesio, the doyen of Italian breeders; he spoke of Phipps, Hancock and Calumet Farm in the United States; and of A.R.Elllis of Hartford. I was in awe. And as my brother Pat and I wound our way down that historic road to the steps of the region’s most gracious homestead, we recalled the tenth of the Commandments against the coveting of “thy neighbour’s house”.

From the time I’d first fondled a Duff’s Turf Guide on the potty as a three-year-old, I knew of the Hartford legends, and as my capacity for the game grew, I learnt that if there was a horse in the parade in the green, black and gold, it was as good as money in the bank. Mowgli, Cape Heath, Salmon, Panjandrum, Ajax, Magic Mirror, Master Polly, Magic Cloak, Magic Charm, Sentinel, Hat Trick, Fantasma, Albion, Lavonia, Fantastic, Famulus, Masham, Sybil’s Nephew, Pussmoth, Preston Pan, Prestissimo, Visionary, Flaming Heath, Magic Link, Cosmonaut, Rudigore, Dazzle, Alyssum, Hey Presto, Royal Occasion, Derby Day, Alhambra, Wayfarer, Pinocchio, Pipes Of Pan, Miracle, Broken Spell, Gypsey Moth, Beacon Light, and Council Rock. The Durban July, the Summer Cup, the Met, the Gold Cup, countless Derbys, Guineas and Oaks, the Gilbeys and the Smirnoff Sprint; on the occasion of the Royal visit to South Africa, three King’s Cups in three different centres; and anywhere from a 1000m to 3000m.

Many of our readers know the story of how Summerhill came to acquire its neighbour, Hartford, through a handshake exchange in the toilet in those bleak days of 1989. If you don’t, it’s a story of its own, and it’s for another day. But the one thing that had always fascinated me was the story of Hartford’s phenomenal success, and I spent a week with Graham Ellis drawing it all out when the handover took place. His father, A.R. (Raymond) Ellis’ curiosity with horses was aroused by the presence on the farm of six Italian prisoners of war, who’d been captured during the 1940 Abyssinian campaign. One of these men was the ex head groom of the greatest European breeder of the era, Senor Tesio; and it was he that ignited the flame which found the motherload. His advice to the Ellises was “breed like you mean it”, and they did. That year Raymond Ellis bought two young fillies at the National Sale, and stabled them in the garden across the way from the old stone house, built by the family of the last Prime Minister of the Colony, Sir Frederick Moor. Those that frequent Hartford House these days will know the stable as Suite 7, named for one of those two fillies, Preston Pan. She was something of a terror, and kicked the hell out of her companion as well as the stable divide, so she was dispatched to a paddock adjacent to the Hartford chapel, from whence she was trained for the duration of her career. Enigmatic though she was, Preston Pan was brilliant to the degree that she remains the only two-year-old filly ever invited to run in the Durban July, the continent’s greatest horserace. Whatever she was as a racehorse though, she was even more as a broodmare. Of the 48 names that adorn the old pots on the driveway, no fewer than 18 trace their lineage to Preston Pan and her daughters.

What was it about the thoroughbred that penetrated the soul of A.R.Ellis and his family, that gave birth to this celebrated farm, to three champion trainers and five champion jockeys, all of whom resided at one time or another in homes and stables built by that handful of Italians?

In an oft-quoted response, Graham Ellis, one-time Chairman of the Durban Turf Club following a stint as trainer to the finest string in the game, reminded me that of all the species on earth, including us humans, the racehorse is the only one whose genetic history is tabulated right back to the original founding fathers of the breed. He recalled that the welfare of the thoroughbred had been in the hands of the British aristocracy for more than three centuries. From the outset, the sport was conducted as all sports should be, for the sake of the sport, and it was all about one nobleman beating another. Throughout this time, they selected their stock for the right reasons too, for their nobility, their grace and their presence, for their intelligence and courage, for speed, stamina, mental toughness and physical durability, all the traits we as a species would aspire to. And that’s why the racehorse is the good Lord’s greatest creation.

Enquiries :
Tel : +27 (0) 33-2631081 / +27 (0) 33-2631314
Fax : +27 (0) 33-2632818 / +27 (0) 33-2632414
Email : info@summerhill.co.za
www.summerhill.co.za

SUMMERHILL'S "USP"

Cheryl and I on Yasawa Island, Fiji
(Photo : Supplied)

“Travel these days takes more than money.
It takes the most precious commodity of the lot: time.”

Cheryl and I have been travelling a lot of late. The Wild Coast (there is only one), Cape Town, Jo’burg, Thanda Game Reserve, Phinda of the same, Melbourne and Yasawa Island in Fiji. Quite a mixture. It’s premature to talk about Fiji, because we’ve only just arrived, but it’s fair to say that it measures up to everything Captains Cook and Bligh had to say about it in the good old days (in Bligh’s case, before the Bounty crew made him walk the plank!).

Being racehorse breeders and hoteliers, you can’t avoid the comparisons between the way we do things and how others go about their businesses. Survival in the modern world depends upon how you distinguish your product from others, and I suspect that whatever Summerhill and Hartford are, it’s because they were built without money. When you have the funds, you simply pay and you get. When you don’t, you have to be creative, you have to be intuitive about what gets a pulse racing. It’s about authenticity, atmosphere and adventure, sounds, scents and scenery, tastes and taboos. Good hotels and good horses always reflect a sense of “place”, their environment, their histories, their traditions and importantly, their people. In the world of travel, a high level of discernment is creeping into every arena. Today, the customer’s interest in artisanal beer and food, for example, is echoed in an interest in artisanal hospitality. Hartford House is dedicated to sating people’s interest in the world’s distinctive places: you quickly lose any sense of being in a unique environment when staying in a typical high-end hotel in London, Paris or Shanghai, Cape Town, Sydney or Dubai.

Increasingly, travellers seek destinations that accommodate lifestyle and weather, bespoken to their surroundings and community. Hotels should reflect their past, and the architecture of their neighbourhood; discerning guests understand the difference between décor and design, and seldom mistake decoration for good design.

Travel these days takes more than money. It takes the most precious commodity of the lot: time. Most people can buy a car, a handbag or a smart pair of shoes, but travel calls for energy, curiosity, a degree of adventure, even bravery. Not long from now, the greatest indulgence will not be a Ferrari; it will be a fortnight in Zululand, or even a living being; let’s not forget, the greatest creature the good Lord ever created, is the racehorse. And you can come by yours with a week at Hartford. An Argentinean polo player on a recent visit to us, tells it like this: “I was waiting for that combination of bliss and despair which makes African journeys so memorable - a melodramatic pose, a “Hendricks” and tonic coursing through my veins, a three day scruff of beard, a whiff of revolution in the air!”.

Our places thrive because of their originality, they survive on account of their old fashioned values. The more technologically focused the world becomes, the less people want to check-in via iPad and have their pillow preferences stored in a computer. Instead, our guests like to arrive and be greeted by their surnames; they soon get to know themselves again by their first names. And if you’ll give us the time to unpack for you, you’ll find your clothes pressed and hanging in the closet. Simple, old-style service is the most pleasant luxury.

Hartford and Summerhill have become beacons of their trades. In a world in which it’s no longer so “cool” to be a waiter or a groom, we remember, every day, what an honour it is to serve.

Enquiries :
Linda Norval +27 (0) 33 263 1081
or email linda@summerhill.co.za
www.summerhill.co.za

WHY TWENTY TWELVE WON'T BE 2012

Entrance to the Summerhill Estate
(Photo : Summerhill Stud)

“There is salvation for anyone living within reach
of the Drakensberg mountains”

Mick GossThere’ve been all sorts of predictions on how 2012 would turn out, not the least of which is the foreboding suggestion that the world will come to an end on the 21^st December. By our calculations, that leaves most of us with about a week to live, but if you believe the movie “2012”, there is salvation for anyone living within reach of the Drakensberg mountains. In that context, it’s comforting to know that we’re just over half an hour from Giant’s Castle, and if what they have in mind is a flood of proportions to which only Noah can relate, there’ll be time enough for anyone booked into Hartford House to make it up there as well. The point of my note is that if you don’t already have a reservation at Hartford, get one because, in the same instant, you can enjoy a “Last Supper” before the curtain call at what is now officially KZN’s Number One restaurant!

From an operational perspective though, we’d have to say that the outcome of the Emperors Palace Ready To Run Sale last month, is the principal reason why twenty twelve won’t be 2012. By any stretch, the sale was a miracle, a tribute to good horses, good people and great customers, a convergence of all the ingredients in serendipity, and an alignment of the stars. Unless the Maya had something else in mind, it seems that what they were predicting was that 2012 would be not so much the beginning of the end, but the end of the beginning. In that case, we have much to look forward to in 2013, particularly if the market’s assessment of our young stallions is any kind of yardstick. When it came to the Admire Mains, A.P. Arrows and the Mullins Bays, Ready To Run buyers voted with both feet, and the gratifying thing is that they had the benefit of hindsight at the gallops before they did so. For now, we can at least approach the New Year with positive anticipation. Despite a fairly significant reduction in broodmare numbers around the country, we’ve had an excellent season in the stallion barn, with encouraging demand for the new boys Visionaire, Golden Sword and Traffic Guard, while the vibes on the first of the Brave Tin Soldiers augurs well for their market debuts in the New Year.

Besides the frenetics of the Ready To Run, ‘tiz the season for awards, and the number of occasions we’ve had to don our dinner jackets in the past few months has me wondering whether there is time still for a final investment in a new tuxedo. Last time out, I was astonished to discover in my inner pocket, an invitation from the former Administrator of the old Natal, Stoffel Botha, to a function at King’s House in 1983, and while that may be a compliment to the jacket’s longevity, it’s probably more an indication that this Zulu farmer either wears these things as little as possible, or that we just haven’t won enough awards in the interim!

We never take these things for granted though, and they always come as a wonderful surprise. Often enough, they are a tribute to two great teams: an eighth Breeders’ Championship, an award from each of Highveld and KZN Racing, and a string of podium visits at the KZN Breeders night out; for Hartford House, another national Top Ten restaurant award, a sixth American Express Fine Dining accolade, the number one spot on the Top 100 SA Wine Lists and a Diamond class certificate from Diners International. That means those of us with a foot in both camps, have attended a lot of dinners lately. None of it possible without the support and encouragement of great friends and wonderful customers.

‘Tiz also the season of many visitors, and this is the time when we top up our reserves of good conversation, fine wine and classic horses. If you’re passing this way, please join us: we’re bound to have other good friends from the neighbourhood. If not, this note comes with the best and the most grateful wishes of two of the best teams in their businesses.

LADY LINDA

Linda Norval receives the Anita Akal Award from KZN Breeders Chairman, Koos de Klerk
(Photo : KZN Breeders)

KZN BREEDERS AWARDS
17 November 2012

There were many triumphs at the KZN Breeders Awards on Saturday evening, but from a purely selfish perspective, the one that delighted us most was the richly deserved recognition of Linda Norval as the Anita Akal awardee. Linda joined us shortly after the gates opened, and apart from a sabbatical stint (when she left us for another man!), she’s been a mainstay of our operation start to finish. In that time, she’s become a household name, not only at home, but for many abroad, who consider her the standard by which administrators are measured.

Here is an extract from Summerhill’s 2007/2008 Sires Brochure:

“A legend of our own time manages the Summerhill Farm office. This one was here the day the gates opened, when the office was just a part of the passage in the old farmhouse. Yes, the same farmhouse built by the Deputy Prime Minister, old Colonel Richards, the one that housed the Royal Family.

This is the daughter-in-law of the legend that bred every great horse that ever deserved a mention among the legends that made Hartford the greatest thoroughbred nursery of its era. She is the same legend that (last season) single-handedly sold something like 20% of all the stallion seasons traded in South Africa. She’s the voice behind the telephone the world has come to know as Linda Norval. Celebrity, champion, institution. Like the rest of the team, she’s come to appreciate the enormity of a third (now eighth) Breeder’s Championship. She doesn’t just appreciate it though: she’s one of those that made it, and like the rest of us, she’ll never forget it.

But she’s also one of those that’s never forgotten where we all come from. There are no short cuts to the top. Blood, sweat and sacrifice are the DNA of Champions, and the day after the celebrations end, she’ll be back at work. Ahead of time, as usual.”

In all, a Summerhill delegation of twenty-one celebrated six individual awards, while Kahal’s Stallion of the Year was achieved entirely on the back of a job done here. Hat’s off to St John Gray, whose outstanding performer Dancewiththedevil, walked away with the Horse of the Year for the second time.

Saturday evening was the last dance in another great year in the Summerhill story. It’s an acknowledgement of the value of a plan coming together, a revolutionary approach to farming, a unique strategy in the raising of our horses, a recognition of the value of investing in our people, and an understanding that without the support of one of the world’s most envied group of customers, none of it would be possible.

www.summerhill.co.za