Northerly he's got all the hallmarks of a champion." Sunline, a champion New Zealand mare, had won the Cox Plate for two years running, and the spring clash with Northerly was now widely anticipated. Northerly was spelled for the winter, and started his campaign in Perth, where he won first-up and was defeated second-up with 62 kilograms. He then travelled to Melbourne, where he met Sunline for the first time in the John F Feehan Stakes in mid-September. This time, Damien Oliver took the ride, as Greg Childs was committed to Sunline. The great mare raced clear approaching the home turn,
Northerly typical style, Sunline led the field to the home turn, but - unlike the previous two years, when she raced clear in the straight - the Sydney three-year-old Viscount refused to give in, while Northerly loomed wider on the track. Nearing the line, the three horses buffeted one another on several occasions, and, while Northerly narrowly edged past Sunline and Viscount, the roughhouse conclusion to the race sparked three separate protests - second (Sunline) against first (Northerly) and third (Viscount) against first and second. After lengthy deliberations, stewards dismissed all three protests, and Northerly controversially retained the race. Nonetheless, Northerly