Northerly had had an outstanding campaign, and the Cox Plate was his fourth win in-a-row. Northerly returned to Perth, and his trainer Fred Kersley chose to run him in the Railway Stakes, which had been moved forward on the calendar. Unfortunately for the "home" crowd, the Cox Plate winner wilted badly in the home straight under 61.5 kilograms, and he finished an uncharacteristic 11th of 16 behind the Lindsey Smith trained Old Comrade, who again defeated Northerly in the Australian Cup in March. Northerly had shown strong lead-up form to the Australian Cup, including a close second in the C F
Northerly up a week later, in the Craiglee Stakes, Northerly returned to the winner's circle, and made it three on the trot with wins in the Underwood and Turnbull Stakes. By running in the Turnbull, Kersley opened up the possibility of running Northerly over 2,400 metres for the first time, in the Caulfield Cup. Well-positioned by Greg Childs in the first five runners, the incredibly slow pace helped Northerly overcome the big weight of 58 kilos. Northerly went to the lead at the 600m mark and held off the fast finishing Fields Of Omagh and Republic Lass to win by a