Our History

Newhaven Park was purchased by the Kelly’s in the 1920’s. The property was named by its original owner, Jack Cassidy, who drew the 1896 Melbourne Cup winner ‘Newhaven’ in an Australian-wide sweep. The winnings of £5,000 enabled Cassidy to purchase the property.

Four generations of Kelly’s have run Newhaven Park and when John Kelly Sr. returned to Australia after the war in 1948 he assumed control of the farm. John’s uncles Fred and Willie had been his guardians after his father had died when he was a child and it was from his uncles that John Kelly Sr. learned his horsemanship. John had five children, three sons with his first wife; Fred, Richard and John and a fourth son Tom with his second wife who he married following the death of his first wife in 1963.

The first stallion imported to Newhaven Park was White Ensign, which John Kelly Sr. imported in partnership with his uncle Fred. White Ensign was the first of many stallion imports over the years. The French-bred Wilkes provided the foundation that saw Newhaven Park become a world-class stud. Other stallion imports that followed included; Agricola, Boucher, Bold Minstrel and Imperial Prince.

Portrait of Wilkes

In 1985 Newhaven Park broke with tradition when it listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and diversified into the hotel industry. John Kelly Sr. was chairman and Fred and Richard were joint Managing Directors.

This period saw considerable success for Newhaven Park-bred horses on the racecourse with the likes of Encounter, Prowl, Arborea, Burst, Euphoria, Drum, Assertive Lass, Pontal Lass and Chlorophyll.

Following the death of John Kelly Sr. in 2003, Fred and Richard instigated a share buy-back which saw Newhaven Park return to the ownership of the Kelly family.

Today, Richard’s son, John Kelly Jnr runs Newhaven Park and is the fourth generation Kelly to do so.