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 Island tore up the runways at Meigs Field in the middle of the night, in 2003, purportedly in the name of homeland security. Plans followed to convert the area into green space and expand upon the neighboring Museum Campus. In 2005, an outdoor concert venue opened on the northern part of Northerly Island. Originally named Charter One Pavilion, it was expanded in 2013 and renamed to FirstMerit Bank Pavilion, and as of January 2017 it is named Huntington Bank Pavilion. In December 2010, the Chicago Parks District unveiled its framework plan for Northerly Island, to be completed over the next 20–30