Lindsay Park bought by Smart family with plans to breathe new life into iconic horse stud

Iconic horse stud Lindsay Park is back in local hands, with an SA farming family revealing plans to breathe new life into the historic property.

Aerial view of Lindsay Park in Angaston.

Iconic Barossa Valley horse stud Lindsay Park is back in local hands, with a prominent farming family planning a new future for the sprawling property after more than 50 years as a world-renowned training ground for champion racehorses.

The Smart family, based in Keith in the state’s South-East, acquired the historic site from Hong Kong tycoon Pan Sutong in December, with plans to breathe new life into the property.

Most of the 800ha-plus of land will be operated as a standard grazing operation for sheep and cattle, but the family is exploring opportunities to redevelop the property’s heritage-listed homestead, horse infrastructure and vet clinic.

Luxury accommodation, a museum, visitor centre, event venue, community centre, restaurant and offices have all been earmarked as potential uses for the heritage-listed Lindsay House homestead.

The track at Lindsay Park before it was converted into a paddock.

But Brendon Smart, who established the family’s Smart Group farming operation in Keith more than 40 years ago, said his family would work with the local community to explore other ideas to breathe new life into the homestead and other infrastructure.

“Whilst the property will be operated as a standard grazing business, we are looking forward to engaging with entrepreneurs with an interest in adding value to the other infrastructure including Lindsay House,” he said.

Lindsay Park sprawls 800ha-plus of land in the Barossa Valley. Picture: Supplied by Colliers

“We are farmers first and foremost, and whilst the expansive and historic improvements are surplus to our needs, our aim is to keep the entire Lindsay Park property intact and identify the right custodian to occupy the truly unique assets, either as a commercial enterprise or some form of not-for-profit.

Keith farmer Brendon Smart said while Lindsay Park would be operated as a standard grazing business the family had plans to breathe new life into iconic horse stud.

“Our original thinking was to lease the buildings out to a luxury hotel or health and wellness operator, but as we continue to discover more unique features of the facilities and learn more about the history, it has occurred to us that there are so many applications that could be applied to Lindsay Park.”

The heritage-listed Lindsay House was built in the 1840s by George Fife Angas.

Lindsay Park was established by one of the state’s founding fathers, George Fife Angas, and his son John Howard Angas in the 1840s.

It was held by the Angas family until 1965, when prominent horse racing identity Colin Hayes acquired the site and redeveloped it into a world-class racing stable and stud that went on to breed and train a host of champions.

Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh during their Lindsay Park Stud visit in March in 1977. Picture: Staff photographer

Over the years it stabled influential stallions including Without Fear, Zabeel, At Talaq and Rory’s Jester, and even hosted Queen Elizabeth during her tour of Australia in 1977.

In 2011 Mr Hayes’ son David moved the family’s horse racing empire to Euroa, Victoria, leading to the sale of the Angaston property to Mr Sutong’s Goldin Group.

Under the rebadged name of Goldin Farms, it continued to operate as a horse stud and was expanded with the acquisition of neighbouring property, Tarrawatta, in 2015.

However Mr Sutong’s business empire, which includes investments in electronics, property, wine production and horse racing, has crumbled in recent years, and his businesses have been selling off assets in order to repay mounting debts.