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
Beverley Racecourse Beverley Bullet Sprint over 5 furlongs in August for three-year-olds and up. The racecourse is a right-handed flat course, that is just over 1 mile 3 furlongs. It is predominantly flat but with a stiff, uphill finish and tight turns. Beverley has the most pronounced "draw bias" on a UK racecourse on its 5 furlong course. The sharp right hand bend and the fact that the ground runs away to the left make a low draw (i.e. on the inside rail) much more advantageous than a high draw (i.e. on the wide outside and on ground sloping right to left).