If you are a Canadian horse racing aficionado, a horseperson, or a fan, you know how the Queen’s Plate horse race came to be.
In an effort to improve the breed in Ontario, the Toronto Turf Club petitioned Her Majesty Queen Victoria in 1859 for a gift or prize for an annual horse race. Queen Victoria granted a plate with 50 guineas for the winner of a 1 1/4 mile race.
The race was first run in 1860 and just over 40 years later following the passing of Queen Victoria, her son King Edward VII carried on the tradition of granting the ‘guineas’.
“In July [1901], the [Ontario Jockey Club] unanimously agreed to the Governor General’s suggestion that “the name of the race to which His Majesty The King donates the sum of Fifty Guineas should be in future be known as the King’s Plate” — this from The Plate: 150 Years of Royal Tradition from Don Juan to Eye of the Leopard by Lou Cauz and Beverly Smith.
In 1952, with a young Queen Elizabeth II taking over the reins of the monarchy, the race became the Queen’s Plate again. It has not changed since.
At the age of 96, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II passed away after a remarkable 70-year reign. A horse lover, equestrian and racing fanatic, The Queen had horses to ride and horses to race. She came to Woodbine to watch the Queen’s Plate, most recently in 2010, and just a few years ago Woodbine’s young jockey Kazushi Kimura rode one of the Queen’s horses, Magnetic Charm, in the Canadian Stakes and finished a close second.
Below is footage from the Queen’s 1973 visit to Woodbine, the year Royal Chocolate won the Plate for Jack Stafford.
Queen Elizabeth II attending the Queen’s Plate horse race in 1973. Named now as the King’s Plate. pic.twitter.com/lLHaPiYAnr
— Old Toronto Series (@oldTOseries) September 8, 2022
Dom Romeo and his family, along with trainers Nick Gonzalez and wife Martha and jockey Eurico da Silva, met the Queen in 2010 when Big Red Mike led all the way in the Plate.
It was the fourth visit to the Plate for the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh and for anyone in attendance, it was magical. The Queen even looked skyward as the Royal landau brought her trackside and waved to some wild-eyed press box women waving madly from a small balcony.
The Queen has made many visits to Canada (22) and in 1970 took in the Manitoba Centennial Derby.
By royal decree, that first gift for a horse race in Toronto was granted by the ruling monarch. With the passing of HM Queen Elizabeth, the gift will come from the next ruler who will be her son His Majesty The King Charles III. As tradition goes, the Plate will likely be called the King’s Plate in 2023. Of course, the Queen loved her horses so much, perhaps The Royal Family will preserve the name of the Queen’s Plate.
Roger Attfield bows to the Queen while Frank Stronach and David Willmot look on. (Terence Dulay photo 2010)
1997 – The Queen and Prince Philip at Woodbine. Awesome Again won that year. (Canadian Heritage/Royal Tour photo)
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