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135 Years of Unparalleled Excellence
erhill Ti
1875/1879
First Deeds of Grant for Hartford and Summerhill, issued by Queen Victoria to the Moor and Ellis families.
1898 Frederick Moor (Hartford) elected Prime Minister of the Colony of Natal. Colonel George Richards (Summerhill) appointed Colonial Secretary.
1908 Deed of Grant Summerhill
Sir Frederick Moor knighted following Union talks in Durban.
1922 Royal visit of George V’s sister, Princess Alice to Summerhill.
1939
Princess Alice’s visit
A.R. Ellis acquires Hartford. Establishes SA’s pre-eminent private breeding establishment.
Cape Heath secures the King’s Cup; King George VI makes the presentation. Decision wins the first of three Summer Handicaps for the farm.
1958/59 Sybil’s Nephew and Masham earn their first Sires’ Championships.
1979 Goss family acquires Summerhill.
1988 New tax incentives for thoroughbred breeders negotiated at Summerhill. Home Guard
Between the farms, they founded NCD Dairies, Eskort Bacon Factory and what became Corobrik, the largest dairy, meat processing and brick-making businesses in Africa.
Home Guard becomes leading sire (win stakes) of Britain and Ireland.
1990 Nelson Mandela released; Dubai’s Ruling Family commences 22 year association with Summerhill.
Queen Elizabeth II invites Mick and Cheryl Goss to dinner aboard HM Royal Yacht Brittania. Summerhill negotiates Black Bush accord with tripartite nations; it becomes precursor to first export protocol with EU. Queen Elizabeth II
2000
1899-1902 General Louis Botha assumes command of the Boer forces on Summerhill. Winston Churchill visits Hartford. General Joubert acknowledges Treaty of Vereeniging at Summerhill.
1910
General Botha
National Emblem
John Moor elected to the first Union Senate.
HM King Letsie III
Nelson Mandela captured 20 minutes from our front verandah.
St Pauls
Angus
1987 Summerhill and CSB establish first Ready To Run sale in the southern hemisphere; Summerhill scripts first proposals for Breeders’ premiums in KZN.
1989
Summerhill builds first School of Equine Management Excellence in southern hemisphere, and Bryan and Erica Goss Memorial theatre.
2013 Northern Guest
Goss family trades Hillcrest home for Hartford.
Bryan and Erica Goss
Northern Guest wins first of his national Sires Premierships.
Hartford House named in top three country restaurants in the world by The Wall Street Journal; makes Eat Out’s Top Five Restaurants in SA. Summerhill becomes leading breeder by earnings a modern record of nine consecutive times.
Summerhill hosts Finance Minister Barend du Plessis; leads first trade delegation to UK; attracts large scale international investment.
Princess Anne hosts Mick Goss at private luncheon.
2010
Summerhill becomes the first farm in 30 years to win six consecutive Breeders’ titles.
Lynton Hall opened: makes Conde Naste’s top 50 “Hot” Hotels worldwide.
La Fabulous
Lynton Hall
Vuma Feeds (est. 1990) attracts Australian icons, Jack and Bob Ingham, as investors.
2005 Summerhill secures its first of nine consecutive Breeders’ Championships.
2007 Historic exacta: Pick Six and Emperor Napoleon secure third Summer Cup win for the farm.
Equus Awards 2005
Summerhill initiates richest Ready To Run race in the world. Supplies five of the first seven winners. Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai visits Summerhill.
2011
Pick Six
Igugu and Pierre Jourdan lead historic Summerhill exacta; Igugu becomes 4th July-winning graduate and 3 rd to win the J&B Met.
2012 Northern Guest establishes new world record of 11 Broodmare Sires’ titles. Thabani Nzimande anointed “Best Practical Student” at English National Stud.
Igugu and Pierre Jourdan
2014 Ten consecutive years as the nations’ number one breeder by earnings. John Motaung becomes second “Top Practical Student” at the English National Stud in 3 years.
1994 Nelson Mandela
Summerhill pioneers purchase of Aus-bred horses for resale; Angus wins our 2nd J&B Met.
Katsumi Yoshida’s Northern Farm becomes first Japanese stud to invest in South Africa.
Hartford follows up: Mowgli wins the Durban July.
1962
Hartford House initiates Land of Legends collection of the best hospitality establishments in KwaZulu-Natal.
2009
1952
Summerhill inaugurates the first of its 60 international staff scholarships to the best farms in the world.
2001
HM King Letsie III of Lesotho visits Summerhill for the first time.
Pat Goss Snr celebrates Durban July victory with St Pauls.
1997
Fard makes the podium for Equus Stallion of the Year.
2006 Pat Goss Snr
La Fabulous becomes first J&B Met winner born at Summerhill.
Destined to become the country’s top boutique hotel, Hartford House opens.
National Emblem wins Juvenile Sires’ title.
Pat Goss Snr establishes Isihlito Stud at The Springs, East Griqualand.
1996
Summerhill initiates Equine Trade Council with Ministers Alec Irwin and Peter Miller; Heather Morkel appointed first CEO.
2003
1933
1946 1947
King’s Cup
1880-1895
eline
1995
HRH Princess Anne
Hartford House
Traditional dance troupe invited to perform at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
The Zulu Dancers
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