Cover image courtesy of Trackside Photography
Families take time to build, and Emirates Park General Manager Bryan Carlson has been present every step of the way to see the family of Saturday’s Listed Gai Waterhouse Classic winner Naifah (I Am Invincible) flourish, ever since the purchase of her grandam Najoom (Northern Meteor) 13 years ago.
With two more daughters of Najoom confirmed as heading to stud in 2026, Carlson reflects on the mare’s contribution to Emirates Park’s legacy.
Cosmic intervention
Led through the Magic Millions Gold Coast ring by Willow Park Stud in the January of 2013, Najoom was knocked down to Emirates Park for $225,000 - a price that pales in comparison to the lineage she has borne. But things could have unfolded very differently, had the bid been placed on a different horse.
“She was from the second crop of Northern Meteor, and Trevor (Lobb) wanted to buy something by him,” Carlson recalled. The filly was out of an unraced half-sister to the Listed winners Bhutane Dane (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), Gaze On (Intergaze), and Upon This Rock (Fastnet Rock).
Further back was Group 3 winner Mica's Pride (Bite The Bullet {USA}); already the dam of two stakes-winning fillies when the catalogue went to print, she would go on to produce the Group 1 winners Comin' Through (Fastnet Rock) and Criterion (NZ).
Najoom when racing | Image courtesy of Sportpix
“There was another Northern Meteor in the sale, that went on to be Shooting To Win, but Trevor wanted to buy Najoom. She was a beautiful filly. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to buy the colt, but I was able to buy her.
“There was another Northern Meteor in the sale, that went on to be Shooting To Win, but Trevor (Lobb) wanted to buy Najoom.” - Bryan Carlson
“She was a lovely filly, I remember, and buying from Willow Park is always good. And that’s the thing when we buy at the sales, buying fillies adds new blood to our broodmare band, which we are always trying to improve.”
And improve it, the purchase certainly did.
Northern Meteor’s stud career was tragically brief, with the stallion passing six months after Najoom was bought by Emirates Park, and Shooting To Win was knocked down for $160,000 to John O'Shea Racing. Of Northern Meteor’s 21 stakes winners, seven would be born in that second crop.
Northern Meteor | Image courtesy of Widden Stud
While Shooting To Win went on to be a G1 Caulfield Guineas winner and earn himself a spot at stud, Najoom turned out to be a very talented filly as well. The winner of five of her seven starts and second in the other two, she won the G3 Hawkesbury Guineas and the G3 Fred Best Classic for Gai Waterhouse.
She earned a visit to I Am Invincible for her first season at stud but unfortunately the resulting foal died after birth. Next, she visited Snitzel, standing for six figures for the first time in 2016, and produced Najmah, the dam of Naifah.
Najmah won twice in town, but Najoom’s best came in her next two foals, dual Listed winner Najmaty (I Am Invincible) and five-time stakes winner Charm Stone (I Am Invincible), who added two Group 1s to her record in 2025. So far, all five of her foals to hit the track are winners - a good record for any mare, and an excellent one with the triumph of multiple stakes winners.
Commercial decisions
The decision to part with Naifah last year at the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale was, as Carlson puts it, a business-minded one.
“She was not an overly big filly, and we thought it was a good commercial decision to sell her then,” he said. “She had a little bit of black-type already, and she had shown enough potential that she could go on to be even better. We thought she was the one to offer to market, as we still had Najoom and a lot of her daughters, and there are plenty more coming through.
“We thought she (Naifah) was the one to offer to market, as we still had Najoom and a lot of her daughters.” - Bryan Carlson
“The family has produced a lot of fillies, and while it would be nice to keep them all, it’s just not practical and we don’t need to. It’s a good thing for us, because we get the choice of the fillies, but we can’t keep them all.”
Bryan Carlson | Image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
Second in the Listed Cinderella Stakes at just her second start, Naifah raced at stakes level for her entire first preparation, and attracted a bid of $400,000 from Silverdale Farm and Andrew Williams Bloodstock (FBAA). Transferred to Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr to continue her career, she knocked off her maiden at Hawkesbury when resuming as a 3-year-old and leaped straight back into stakes grade. She won the G3 Proud Miss Stakes before her productive trip to the Sunshine State.
The price tag now looks like a steal, given the sort of spring that the filly could be in for.
Naifah | Image courtesy of Racing Queensland
“But the thing is, we have another three fillies out of the mare,” said Carlson. “The Tassort 2-year-old Naadra was placed on debut before running well in a stakes race, and the mare has a lovely Harry Angel yearling filly and a Tassort weanling still to come.”
Naadra (Tassort) was sixth in the G2 Reisling Stakes won by $5.6 million filly Chayan (I Am Invincible).
“Naifah has gone to good owners with a good farm who are going to continue to breed the family up,” Carlson added. “So it’s a good result for us, and for the future of the family.”
"Naifah has gone to good owners with a good farm who are going to continue to breed the family up.” - Bryan Carlson
Confidence in the quality
Emirates Park make a point of selling quality fillies from their better families at various stages of the family’s evolution; Najoom’s most well known daughter Charm Stone was not her dam’s first stakes winner, but she was her first yearling through the ring in 2022. Nine years after her dam sold in the same ring, Charm Stone attracted the attention of Sheamus Mills Bloodstock (FBAA) and sold for $1.55 million to the agent.
It is a price tag that has been more than justified since, as she is now a dual Group 1 winner with earnings of nearly $2.7 million. Last September, Yulong purchased a 10% stake in the 5-year-old mare for $310,000, placing an estimated value on her north of $3 million.
Charm Stone | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
“We want people to have confidence in buying from us when we sell horses,” Carlson said. “They can be confident that we aren’t just selling leftovers, we are offering quality stock as well. Results like Naifah further show people that there is a lot of potential in the horses we sell as tried horses, as well as our yearlings.”
"Results like Naifah further show people that there is a lot of potential in the horses we sell as tried horses, as well as our yearlings." - Bryan Carlson
Emirates also parted with Najoom’s latest yearling, an I Am Invincible filly named Nevermind, at last year’s Magic Millions sale. The filly was purchased for $425,000 by Peter Snowden, Trilogy Racing, and Suman Hedge Bloodstock (FBAA).
“I was talking with Peter recently,” Carlson said. “He has a good opinion of her, so hopefully she can go out and add to the page.”
Nevermind | Image courtesy of Georgia Young Photography
Making the right match
In the pursuit of both commerciality and racetrack results, making the right match for the mare and her page comes above all else. There are several stallions that Emirates mares return to time and time again. The farm has a long-standing relationship with Yarraman Park Stud, situated less than 50 kilometres away, and have long patronised I Am Invincible, the progenitor of much of Najoom's family success.
“We are big believers in Vinnie and we have had a lot of success using him,” said Carlson. “You can’t complain too much when you have access to a stallion like him.”
“You can’t complain too much when you have access to a stallion like him (I Am Invincible).” - Bryan Carlson
When Brave Smash (Jpn) arrived in the Hunter Valley at Yarraman Park, Emirates took equity in him.
Brave Smash (Jpn) | Standing at Yarraman Park
“Our two main stallions at the moment that we have equity in are Brave Smash and Tassort,” Carlson said. “We have invested heavily in the quality of our mares going forward to give these two the right opportunities. Ultimately, we look to partnering with stallion farms who have the right horses to match with our mares.
“We took a big stake in Brave Smash when he came to Yarraman Park. We have quite a few 2-year-olds, yearlings, and weanlings by him coming through now. We look forward to seeing them on the track and in the sales ring.”
Newgate Farm’s Tassort, a grandson of I Am Invincible, is another that they had significant equity in, so much so that the farm is the producer of two of his best offspring, G1 Sires’ Produce Stakes victress Manaal and G2 Silver Shadow Stakes winner Ameena. Najoom and Najmah both have weanlings by the sire.
Tassort | Standing at Newgate Farm
Emirates also retains equity in Armidale Stud stallion Bodyguard, who is a graduate of the farm. The $1.6 million yearling won the Listed Maribyrnong Trial and the G3 Blue Diamond Prelude (colts & geldings), and served a book of 95 mares in his first year at stud in 2025. He is a grandson of Mossfun (Mossman), one of three G1 Golden Slipper Stakes winners in the farm’s distinctive green and white silks.
“We sent a few mares down to him last year to support him,” Carlson said. “He had a good start last year, and I am sure that will continue.”
The next generation
Two of Najoom’s daughters, 4-year-old Manaajem (Tassort) and 3-year-old Nazwah (Capitalist), will enter stud in the spring to add to their dam’s legacy. Manaajem was a winner at Wyong and placed in metropolitan races, and Nazwah was twice a winner at Gosford and Warwick Farm.
Manaajem | Image courtesy of Georgia Young Photography
“Peter (Snowden) rated her quite highly,” Carlson said of Manaajem. “Both of them will be bred upwards, as with the rest of the family. We haven’t finalised their matings yet, but we will do that within the next month, and they will all be headed for highly commercial stallions.”
“Peter (Snowden) rated her (Manaajem) quite highly.” - Bryan Carlson
Najmah is currently in foal to Ole Kirk, Vinery Stud’s Champion First Season Sire, while Najoom is in foal to current Champion First Season Sire elect Home Affairs, and Najmaty visited Stay Inside and Brave Smash in 2025.
“We do like to sell nice fillies, not just keep them all for ourselves,” Carlson said, hinting there was a chance that there might be another opportunity to buy into Najoom’s family come next year’s broodmare sales.
“We will get to next February, then we will sit down and see what we have in the broodmare band, and if there is any we will be parting with.
“We never say no to the idea (of selling them). We try to maintain a herd of around 70 quality mares, so we will see where the broodmare band is up to next year.”
