Northerly Stakes Northerly Stakes The Northerly Stakes is a Perth Racing Group 3 Thoroughbred handicap horse race for horses aged four years old and upwards, over a distance of 1400 metres at Ascot Racecourse, Perth, Australia in October. Prize money is A$150,000. The race was renamed in 2010 after the champion Western Australian thoroughbred Northerly, winner of two W S Cox Plates (2001 & 2002), two Australian Cups (2001 & 2003) and a Caulfield Cup (2002). The race is run on Caulfield Cup day. † Originally the race was scheduled on 18 October 2015 but the race meeting was abandoned after the
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