13 Dec L’Ormarins King’s Plate

South Africa’s premier mile-long Weight For Age horse 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, staged as The Queen’s Plate was held in April 1861 as a heats event, and won by Cape Town owner Mr Chiappini’s horse Dispatch.  The event has maintained its royal ties meticulously ever since.

The race was run as the King’s Plate from the reign of Edward VII through to George VI. It reverted to the Queen’s Plate when Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the throne in 1952, and continued to run under that name until 2022, when she passed away, leaving the monarchy to her son, Charles. It is an honour to be associated with an event that carried her name for a remarkable 70 years. In keeping with the qualities of grace, elegance and – above all – tradition that she so embodied, L’Ormarins is proud to continue that legacy under the reign of King Charles III under the new banner of the King’s Plate.

The 2023 L’Ormarins King’s Plate will be held on Saturday 7 January 2023 at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth Racecourse, in Cape Town. As usual, FMM will be displaying a number of cars from its collection at the venue, all with light blue colouring in keeping with the event’s colour code.

Anyone interested in attending the 2023 King’s Plate can look at the various hospitality options on our new website www.lormarinskingsplateco.za. Tickets can be booked directly via Computicket.