Anderton and his son, Shane, line up High Forty in the $125,000 feature on Saturday, as Anderton chases his first success in the race in 30 years.
Great Northern glory came in 1986 with Rock Crystal, which Anderton part-owned. However, the son of Native Turn was trained by Anderton's brother, Hec, while Anderton trained Lord Venture, which finished a long head behind Rock Crystal in second.
Hec Anderton took over the training of Rock Crystal after the death of the their father, Hector.
Brian Anderton said a win on Saturday with High Forty would mean plenty for the whole family.
''My dad would be thrilled I know, because he always wanted to win a Great Northern but he didn't,'' Anderton said.
''We did it for him with old Rocky, but it would be nice to do it again.
''I'm happy to have a horse good enough to start in it.''
Saturday will be High Forty's first crack at the notorious Ellerslie hill. He will take on the energy-sapping climb three times during the 6400m feature, but Anderton expects the son of Danzighill to cope well with the daunting prospect.
''The hill is going to be a challenge, but I think that will be right up his alley,'' he said.
''He's been worked up the hill at Wingatui tons of times, and everywhere else.''
High Forty will again carry the top weight of 70kg - ''he's paying for being ultra-consistent'' - but he is slowly coming back to the field on the weights. At Riccarton he carried 71kg in the Koral Steeplechase and 70.5kg in the Grand National a week later.
The change in ratings also means High Forty carries only 2.5kg more than Upper Cut, who carried 5.5kg less than High Forty when winning the Grand National on August 13.
A run at Ashburton last Friday achieved everything the Andertons had hoped. There High Forty finished sixth behind Astroturf.
''He had to have that, otherwise he would have had to go up [to Ellerslie] earlier,'' Anderton said.
''He had to do a bit of work somewhere along the line - between the National and the Northern, that race fitted in quite nicely. I was quite happy with the way he ran on in that race.''
Anderton and his wife, Lorraine, share in the ownership with Terry Burke, and when asked what it would mean if High Forty could do the job, Anderton's thoughts drifted to others.
''I would be thrilled, of course,'' he said.
''But I'd be thrilled for a lot of people like Terry Burke, who bought him out of the paddock here [at White Robe Lodge]. He leased me back a half share in him as a jumper. His lease was up before when he won the National, and that was renewed. So that said a lot for the man, as he could have dodged and went on his own.''
Waikato jockey Michael Mitchell will again take the ride aboard the 10yr-old.
