KEY POINTS:
Former jumps rider Graeme Lord used to think it would be impossible to top his Great Northern Hurdles double aboard Vincere in the late 1980s.
That could be about to change when he saddles outsider Nufsed in the 2007 version tomorrow.
"To own, breed and train the winner of the Northern would be something special," concedes Lord, 47.
"I guess the first hurdle was getting the horse into the field, the next ones are the ones he's got to clear in the race.
"We just need a little luck on our side now and hope the horse has the willpower left at the end."
The only disappointment for the Cambridge father of two teenage girls is that his biggest fans aren't still around to share in the excitement tomorrow.
Lord lost his wife Wendy to breast cancer 10 years ago and his father Ivan, a part-owner in Nufsed, to emphasemia in May this year.
Graeme Lord remembers his father telling him they had a "smart little bugger" on their hands when the son of Victory Dance was still a foal.
But their hobby horse stayed off the Northern radar until his late-closing third in the Lumbercorp Hurdles at Ellerslie on August 25.
Lord, however, has taken Nufsed along slowly with the view to sneaking the six-race flat winner into the $103,000 race at the bottom of the handicap.
While his early jumping form may not have shown it, Lord always believed the July maiden hurdle winner had the makings of a serious Northern lightweight.
"I know his record may be against him, but he's had the experience doing it without any pressure around him," said Lord.
"And last time out at Ellerslie the penny really dropped. He's much more relaxed and focused now on what he's doing."
With a clear shot at the final fence in the Lumbercorp, Lord believes Nufsed and Nathan Hanley may have even beaten War Dancer.
Nufsed was rated a $17 chance with TAB bookies yesterday in the best betting race for jumps fans all year.
Only Grand National winner Counter Punch ($6), Van Winkle ($7.50) and Striking ($9) were in single figures.
The John Wheeler-trained High Season is also value at $11.
