Cover image courtesy of Inglis
Yangzi River (Tassort) cost Q Huang $550,000 at the 2025 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale, making her the most expensive yearling by her sire to date. She lived up to the potential on Saturday with a win on debut at Kembla Grange for trainer Chris Waller.
A full sister to G2 Silver Slipper winner Ameena, Yangzi River comes from one of Emirates Park’s best families. She is the third winner from three to race for dual winning mare Emaan (Harbour Watch {Ire}).
Yangzi River sells well for Tassort
Emaan has had six foals, all fillies, and with Ameena already in the Emirates Park racing team, the decision was made to take the full sister to the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale of 2025.
Bryan Carlson | Image courtesy of Ashlee Brennan
“We were trying to promote Tassort and get a few more out there,” said Emirates Park's Bryan Carlson. Emirates Park have shares in the Newgate Farm sire. As well as Ameena, they have raced Tassort’s G1 Sires’ Produce Stakes winner Manaal. Tassort, whose oldest foals are 5-year-olds this season, has sired four stakes winners and 91 winners. His largest two crops are coming through as 2-year-olds and yearlings.
“Yangzi River was a beautiful type. I’ve been watching her closely and her trials had been very good and I think there’s a lot more to come for her. It was good to see her win, I was expecting her to run really well,” Carlson said.
Yangzi River as a yearling | Image courtesy of Inglis
One good mare changed the family’s direction
Unraced mare Mahboobah (USA) (Diesis {GB}) was imported to Australia by Emirates Park in 1993 and since then she’s built a dynasty for the farm. Mahboobah wasn’t a very good broodmare herself with only two minor winners from six named foals, and both those winners were geldings. But her unraced daughter Boom Boom Baby (True Hero {USA}) has been the beginning of the dynasty for the family.
Boom Boom Baby’s son Boomwaa (Mutawaajid) won the G3 Maribyrnong Plate and six other races, and her filly Boom Time Savings (Secret Savings {USA}) was placed twice at two in the G2 Silver Slipper and G2 Reisling Slipper Trial Stakes as well as running fourth in Miss Finland (Redoute’s Choice)’s G1 Golden Slipper.
Boom Time Savings’ winning daughter Emaan is the dam of Ameena and Yangzi River.
Boomwaa | Image courtesy of Sportpix
“We’ve retired Ameena and she’s joined our broodmare band. It’s one of Emirates’ original families and it's a good family that keeps going,” said Carlson.
“She’s at home and at this stage is booked to Zoustar. It’s nice to have her home.”
Trained by Anthony and Sam Freedman, Ameena won her first two starts at two, followed by second in the G3 VRC Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes, before heading to Sydney where she won the G2 Silver Slipper Stakes.
Ameena | Image courtesy of Sportpix
At three, she resumed with a second to Emirates Park’s G1 Golden Slipper winner Marhoona (Snitzel) in the G2 Furious Stakes. Later in the season she ran into another Emirates Park Stud-sold filly, Charm Stone (I Am Invincible), when second in the G1 Sir Robert Sangster Stakes.
Ameena retired with three wins and three placings from 15 starts with earnings over $600,000.
Emaan is due for a colt
With six fillies on the ground, the decision for Emirates Park to sell Yangzi River was an easy one.
“The mare has only had fillies. We have to be business minded and see what we’ve got here. It’s not so much commercially driven, but more what yearlings we’ve got from our mares and what is coming through. It’s a bit of a mixed decision (on sell or keep). We already have Ameena and we’ve still got the dam.”
Following Yangzi River, she has a Dubious 2-year-old filly named Emdaad, and a yearling full sister to Ameena and Yangzi River. Emaan is currently in foal to Stay Inside.
Stay Inside | Standing at Newgate Farm
“She is going to Brave Smash. We’ve got a chunk of Brave Smash and we like him a lot. She’s got a very nice sort, a yearling full sister on the ground that we will probably take to the sales. We also have the Dubious half-sister, who is in work with Anthony and Sam (Freedman).
“I didn’t mind Dubious as a type but unfortunately he hasn’t fired as much as I’d hoped, but the filly is a very nice type of filly.”
Emirates Park also have a few other mares descending from Boom Boom Baby.
“We’ve still got Marboosha and a couple of her daughters, and Burum whose a sister to Marboosha. They will both be good broodmares going forward. The family is quite forward at the moment.”
Marboosha | Image courtesy of Sportpix
The first foal from G3 Gold Coast Guineas winner Marboosha (Dream Ahead {USA}) is unraced 3-year-old filly Bashoosha (I Am Invincible). She’s in work with Peter Snowden for the Emirates Park racing team, while Marboosha has a Brave Smash (Jpn) yearling filly and was covered by both I Am Invincible and Anamoe in 2025 for this season.
Marboosha’s half-sister Burum (Artie Schiller {USA}), who was a winner at two, has a 3-year-old filly Burum Babe (Brazen Beau) who ran third at Toowoomba last week. She also has a Zousain 2-year-old colt and a Brave Smash yearling filly. She is in foal to Ozzmosis.
