She also established a highly influential female family, which has produced other leading sires Machiavellian and Danehill, plus numerous other stakes winners.
Bred in Virginia by Mrs. E. H. Augustus & Daniel G. Van Clief, Natalma was purchased by Canadian business mogul E. P. Taylor at the Saratoga, New York, yearling sales for $35,000 (equivalent to $370,000 in 2023).
Natalma, Cosmah and Bubbling Beauty all produced leading sires: Northern Dancer, Halo and Arctic Tern respectively.
She also crossed the finish line first in the 1959 Spinaway Stakes but swerved when jockey Bobby Ussery hit her with the whip and was disqualified to third place for interference.
Coincidentally, Nearctic had won the Michigan Mile just days before the 1958 Saratoga Sales, and the winnings from this race gave Taylor the funds to pay for Natalma.
As a racehorse, Northern Dancer was a champion in both Canada and the United States whose major wins included the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Queen's Plate.
[4][7][8] Natalma was humanely euthanized on January 29, 1985 at the Windfields Farm satellite operation in Maryland (now the Northview Stallion Station) after unsuccessful treatment for colic.