Hawwaam’s facile Premier Trophy victory on Saturday has set the stage for our first major racing event of 2020, the 159th Gr1 L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate and fourth year of the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate Racing Festival, which will be held at Kenilworth on Friday 10 and Saturday 11 January 2020.
Entries for the R1,5 million L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate, South Africa’s premier weight-for-age mile, will close on Friday 27 December at 11h00. The weights will be published the same day.
Hawwaam – impressive prep on Saturday (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
In the 2019 renewal, the Snaith 4yo and subsequent SA Horse Of The Year Do It Again outpointed the gallant Cape Guineas star Soqrat to join Mike Bass gallopers Trademark and Pocket Power as one of only three horses to achieve the July – Queen’s Plate double this century.
The son of Twice Over, who won the Vodacom Durban July again this year, stands on the brink of repeating the feat. There were excuses for his recent below-par effort in the Gr2 Green Point Stakes.
The race was first run in honour of Queen Victoria after she gifted a silver plate and 500 sovereigns to the South African Turf Club.
The inaugural contest was staged as a heats event in April 1861, with the honours going to Cape Town owner Mr Chiappini’s horse, Dispatch.
The Queen’s Plate has kept its royal ties meticulously.
After the death of Queen Victoria, it was run as the King’s Plate during the reigns of Edward VII and George VI and then reverted to being named the Queen’s Plate when Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was crowned in 1952.
The monarch maintains strong ties with the event, and is represented every year by the British High Commissioner.
A lot has changed since 1861 and the race has grown in stature to become South Africa’s premier weight-for-age contest over 1600m.
These conditions ensure that the race is won by a true champion and the laurels have been claimed by some of the greatest horses ever to grace South African soil, including the mighty Sea Cottage, William Penn, In Full Flight, Yataghan, Sledgehammer, Politician, Wolf Power, galloping goldmine Empress Club, international superstar London News, champion sire Jet Master, Winter Solstice and Variety Club.
Pocket Power – King of the Queens
Of course, the undisputed King of the Queen’s Plate, with 4 successive trophies, is the unforgettable Pocket Power.
In 2015 the L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate was voted one of the top 5 race days in the world by the British Telegraph.
Champion Legal Eagle won the race three years in succession from 2016 to 2018.
Supplementary entries will be accepted up to 11h00 on Friday 3 January 2020.
Declarations are due by 11h00 on Monday 6 January 2020.
