Northerly his racing colours of yellow, black Maltese Cross and quartered cap earned him the nickname of "The Fighting Tiger". After winning a string of minor races in Perth, Northerly burst on the scene with his victory in the 2000 Railway Stakes in his native Perth where he accounted for the state's best milers by nearly three lengths. Following a first-up second in 2001 in the unsuitably short Australia Day Stakes in Perth, Northerly arrived in Melbourne for an autumn campaign aimed at the Australian Cup. He won his first race in Melbourne, the Carlyon Cup over 1,600 metres, by almost
Northerly failed to reach the same heights. Wins in the St George Stakes and the Australian Cup (by four lengths) were interspersed with defeats in the Orr Stakes and the Victoria Gold Cup, where he was defeated as a long-odds-on favourite by the hitherto unheralded Mr Trickster. In Sydney, Northerly was also odds-on favourite in his three starts, but failed to win. In the Ranvet Stakes, he was run down by Republic Lass; in the Manion Cup, he was unplaced; in The BMW Stakes, Freemason set a course-record pace, and Northerly was unable to run him down, as the two horses