The King's Plate (known as the Queen's Plate between 1860 to 1901 and 1952 to 2022) is Canada's oldest

Thoroughbred horse race Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in ...

, having been founded in 1860. It is also the oldest continuously run race in North America. It is run at a distance of for a maximum of 17 three-year-old

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are co ...

horses foaled in Canada. The race takes place each summer at

Woodbine Racetrack Woodbine Racetrack is a race track for Thoroughbred horse racing in the Etobicoke area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Woodbine Entertainment Group, Woodbine Racetrack manages and hosts Canada's most famous race, the King's Plate. The tra ...

Etobicoke, Ontario Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district of, and one of six municipalities amalgamated into, the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west-end, Etobicoke was first settled by Europeans in the 1790s, and the municipalit ...

. It is the first race in the Canadian Triple Crown. The King's Plate has typically been held in June or July, but in 2020 the race was postponed to September due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. Woodbine then elected to run the 2021 and 2022 editions of the race in August. Historically, the race has been named in honour of the reigning

monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power ...

. The

Woodbine Entertainment Group Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG), known as the Ontario Jockey Club from 1881 to 2001, is the operator of two horse racing tracks, a casino and off-track betting stations in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. It also owns and operates ...

, which owns and operates the event, announced in December 2022 the race will again be renamed the King's Plate as a result of the September 2022 accession of King

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

History

In 1859, when

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...

was still a colony of Britain, the then-president of the Toronto Turf Club, Sir Casimir Gzowski, petitioned

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

to grant a plate for a new race in the territory. Upon royal assent, the first Queen's Plate was run on June 27, 1860, at the Carleton racetrack in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor ...

, with the prize of "a plate to the value of 50

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...

". Despite the name of the race, the winning owner is presented with a gold cup rather than a plate. Originally, the race was restricted to three-year-olds bred in Canada that had never won a stakes race. The race was originally run in heats, with a horse having to win two heats to be declared the winner. Over the years, the race conditions have evolved. Heat racing was discontinued in 1879, and the race was opened to stakes winners around the same time (some early records are incomplete). For many years, the race was open to older horses and in the early 1900s was even open to two-year-olds. The race is currently restricted to three-year-olds foaled in Canada. The owner must pay a nomination fee ($500 in 2018) in February, a second subscription fee ($1,500 in 2018) in May and a final entry fee ($10,000) in prior to the race. ] The first four renewals were run at Carleton racetrack. After that, the Queen's Plate became a "movable feast", with politicians from all over modern-day Ontario vying to host the race in their constituency. Fifteen different race tracks hosted the race over the next two decades, with distances varying from one to two miles. In 1883, the race moved to Old Woodbine Race Course, Old Woodbine, located in eastern Toronto along Lake Ontario. The race continued to be held at Old Woodbine until that track was replaced by "New" Woodbine in northern Toronto in 1956. The race has been run at Woodbine ever since. In 2006, Woodbine changed the track surface for the main track from natural dirt to a synthetic surface known as Polytrack. In 2016, the surface was changed to Tapeta. Because of the change in racing surfaces, Woodbine maintains several sets of track and stakes records. The fastest time for the race on the original dirt surface at the current distance is 2:01 4/5, set by

Kinghaven Farms Kinghaven Farms is a horse racing stable that was founded in 1967 by Donald G. "Bud" Willmot. Located in King City, Ontario, north of Toronto, the success of the stable would see it expand to the United States with the acquisition of a farm and ...

Izvestia ''Izvestia'' ( rus, Известия, p=ɪzˈvʲesʲtʲɪjə, "The News") is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Russia. Founded in 1917, it was a newspaper of record in the Soviet Union until the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991, and describes i ...

in 1990. The current stakes record (the fastest all-time) is 2:01.48, set by Moira in 2022 on Tapeta. In 1902, the year after Victoria's death, the race became the King's Plate, after her successor,

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...

. It became the Queen's Plate again during the reign of

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

(1952–2022). In 2022, it reverted to the King's Plate upon the accession of

. Horses owned by

Windfields Farm Windfields Farm was a six square kilometre (1,500 acre) Thoroughbred horse breeding farm that was founded by businessman E. P. Taylor in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. Origin The first stable and breeding operation of E. P. Taylor originated ...

have won the Plate eleven times, but the most successful was the stable owned by Joseph E. Seagram, a prominent

distiller Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heating ...

from

Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (formerly Waterloo County). Waterloo is situated about west-southwest of Toronto. Due to the close proximity of the cit ...

. Seagram's stable won the Plate on twenty occasions between 1891 and 1935 including eight times in a row between 1891 and 1898, and ten times in eleven years from 1891 to 1901. At the 1925 King's Plate, W. A. Hewitt and his son

Foster Hewitt Foster William Hewitt, (November 21, 1902 – April 21, 1985) was a Canadian radio broadcaster most famous for his play-by-play calls for ''Hockey Night in Canada''. He was the son of W. A. Hewitt, and the father of Bill Hewitt. Biography ...

called the first horse race broadcast on radio. In 1964,

Northern Dancer Northern Dancer (May 27, 1961 – November 16, 1990) was a Thoroughbred who, in 1964, became the first Canadian-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby. He then became one of the most successful sires of the 20th century. He is considered a Canad ...

, the first Canadian-bred horse to win the

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year- ...

, also won the Queen's Plate in his final race. In 2006,

Josie Carroll Josie Carroll (born December 8, 1957) is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse trainer, who in 2006 became the first woman trainer to win the Queen's Plate, the oldest thoroughbred horse race in Canada and Canada's most prestigious race. She also won the ...

became the first woman trainer to win the Queen's Plate. The following year, Emma-Jayne Wilson became the first female

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

to win the race. The 2004-2013 Plate winners had little success in their subsequent racing careers. This compares unfavourably to the 1990s when a number of Plate winners had considerable success thereafter, including With Approval,

Dance Smartly Dance Smartly (1988–2007) was a Champion Thoroughbred racemare who went undefeated in 1991 while winning the Canadian Triple Crown and becoming the first horse bred in Canada to ever win a Breeders' Cup race. She was inducted into both the Can ...

and

Awesome Again Awesome Again (March 29, 1994December 15, 2020) was a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse and stallion. As a three-year-old, he won the Queen's Plate in Canada and the Jim Dandy Stakes in the United States. He was undefeated at age four, scoring his ...

. The more recent Queen's Plate winners have also been successful, including

Lexie Lou Lexie Lou (foaled February 26, 2011 in Ontario) is a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse. In 2014, she won the Queen's Plate and two legs of the Canadian Triple Tiara on her way to winning three Sovereign Awards. She has also won three graded sta ...

(who became a multiple graded stakes winner in Canada and the US after winning the Plate in 2014) and

Shaman Ghost Shaman Ghost (foaled May 5, 2012) is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2015 Queen's Plate and was named Canadian Champion Three-Year-Old Colt. In 2016, he won two graded stakes races in the United States, including the prestigious Woo ...

(a Grade I winner in America after winning the Plate in 2015). Nick Eaves, former President and CEO of

, announced during the 2012 Queen's Plate post position draw that Woodbine Racetrack might be forced to close in April 2013 due to the cancellation of Slots at Racetrack program partnerships between Ontario's racetracks and the

Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, known for corporate branding purposes simply as OLG since 2006, is a Crown corporation owned by the Government of Ontario, Canada. It is responsible for the province's lotteries, charity and Aboriginal ca ...

. Eaves said that if Woodbine is not open, "there won't be a Queen's Plate." A new funding agreement was put in place in March 2013, which ensured the continuation of horse racing at Woodbine. 38 fillies have won the Plate, beginning with Brunette in 1864. The 2017 running was won by filly Holy Helena, while the 2018 running was won by Wonder Gadot. Two chestnut fillies both by the name of Wild Rose have won the Queen's Plate, in 1867 and 1886. They were the daughter and great-great-grand-daughter respectively of Yellow Rose, who also produced the first Queen's Plate winner Don Juan. The latest filly to win the Queen's Plate was Moira in 2022, whose final time of 2:01.48 established an all-time speed record. The race has been held at a variety of distances: * 1860–1867: heats * 1868–1870: * 1871: miles (2.82 km) * 1872–1886: miles (2.4 km) * 1887–1923: miles (2.01 km) * 1924–1956: miles (1.811 km) * 1957-: miles (2.01 km)

Royal patronage

King of Canada The monarchy of Canada is Canada's form of government embodied by the Canadian sovereign and head of state. It is at the core of Canada's constitutional federal structure and Westminster-style parliamentary democracy. The monarchy is the found ...

is patron of the event. Various other members of the Canadian Royal Family have been in attendance through the years, beginning with the Duke of Argyll and his wife,

Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, (Louisa Caroline Alberta; 18 March 1848 – 3 December 1939) was the sixth child and fourth daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. In her public life, she was a strong proponent of the arts and highe ...

, in 1881, when the Duke was serving as

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, t ...

and the couple was touring Ontario.

's fourth and final visit to the race was in early July 2010.

Records

Stakes Record * Dirt –

— 2:01 (1990) * Synthetic dirt - Moira – 2.01.48 (2022) Winningest Jockeys: * 4 –

Avelino Gomez Avelino Gomez (1928 – June 21, 1980) was a Cuban-born Hall of Fame jockey in American and Canadian thoroughbred horse racing. Born in Havana, Gomez began a career as a jockey at the urging of a family member. He won his first race in Mexico ...

(1957, 1960, 1966, 1969) * 4 – Sandy Hawley (1970, 1971, 1975, 1978) * 4 – Robin Platts (1972, 1974, 1977, 1984) Winningest Trainers: * 8 – Harry Giddings Jr. (1911, 1913, 1914, 1920, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1942) * 8 – Roger Attfield (1976, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 2008) * 6 – John R. Walker (1891, 1892, 1893, 1894, 1895, 1896) * 6 – Gordon J. "Pete" McCann (1940, 1951, 1953, 1957, 1959, 1963) * 6 - William H. Bringloe (1923, 1926, 1928, 1933, 1936, 1937) Winningest Owners: * 20 - Seagram Stables * 11 -

Winners

File:Strait_Of_Dover_Queens2012.jpg, 2012 winner,
Strait of Dover File:Midnight_Aria_Plate2013.jpg, 2013 winner,
Midnight Aria File:LexieLouQueensPlate2014.jpg, 2014 winner,

File:ShamanGhostQueensPlate2015.jpg, 2015 winner,

File:SirDudleyDigges Horse.jpg, 2016 winner,
Sir Dudley Digges File:HolyHelenaHorse.jpg, 2017 winner,
Holy Helena File:WonderGadot_QP18.jpg, 2018 winner,
Wonder Gadot File:OneBadBoy QP19.jpg, 2019 winner,
One Bad Boy File:SafeConduct_QP2021.jpg, 2021 winner,
Safe Conduct † indicates a filly

References

Racing Post ''Racing Post'' is a British daily horse racing, greyhound racing and sports betting publisher which is published in print and digital formats. It is printed in tabloid format from Monday to Sunday. , it has an average daily circulation of 60 ...

: ** , , , , , , , , , ** , ,

Bibliography

* Cauz, Louis E. ''The Plate''. (1984) Deneau Publishers

External links

* {{Authority control Restricted stakes races in Canada Horse races in Canada Flat horse races for three-year-olds Organizations based in Canada with royal patronage Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing Woodbine Racetrack Recurring sporting events established in 1860 1860 establishments in Ontario Summer events in Canada