Northerly wins controversial Cox Plate Australian jockey Damien Oliver won the A$2.25million (US$1.15million) Cox Plate riding Northerly today after a tight three-way finish and protests by the other two lead horses. New Zealand mare Sunline, the 2-1 favourite bidding for a third successive win in the group one race, finished in second place three-quarters of a length behind. But Sunline`s rider Greg Childs, who was overtaken near the line after leading with a rails run, protested interference from Northerly in the closing stages. Third-placed Viscount, ridden by last year`s Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Kerrin McEvoy, was caught between Northerly on the outside and Sunline on the inside heading towards the finish. McEvoy protested against both first and second place after finishing a long head behind Sunline. All the protests were dismissed by stewards, thwarting Sunline`s bid to match Kingston Town`s record of three successive Cox Plates from 1980 to 1982. Fred Kersley, 64, who trains Northerly in Western Australia, had a nervous wait, though, as the three trainers and jockeys gave evidence at a stewards` hearing televised live in Australia. 'There was interference late in the race and I think many things contributed to it,' Kersley said. 'I would have been really disappointed if he had lost it. 'I think the celebrations will be long and wild.' Oliver said: 'Our horse got in (on Viscount`s line) a little but I think the margin was too great to upturn the result.' Austrian jockey Andreas Suborics, on fourth-placed German horse Silvano, said: 'When we came into the straight, we were three lengths behind and it was impossible to win.' The group one event is the eighth leg in the 12-race Emirates World Series which started with the Dubai World Cup in March and ends in Hong Kong in December.
