Queen Elizabeth II Rumored to Attend 2010 Queens Plate
If the rumours are anything to go by, horseracing fans in Toronto, Canada can
look forward to seeing British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II in person on Sunday,
July 4 if she attends the prestigious $1 million Queen's Plate at
Woodbine Racecourse, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year.
It would be an enormous coup for the Canadian horseracing industry if the
world's most famous monarch attended the very race named in the honor of her
great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria. Not only is the Queen's Plate Canada's
oldest and most famous race, but it's the oldest race in North America.
Queen Elizabeth II is scheduled for a nine-day visit in Canada around the time
of the Queen's Plate, so race organizers are reportedly in contact with
Buckingham Palace to ascertain whether she will attend the coveted race, which
is limited to 17 runners each year and contested over 1 1/4 miles on Polytrack.
Said Woodbine racetrack spokesperson, Glen Crouter, 'There is no question that
we hope the Queen will come, but we haven't yet had any confirmation from the
palace. But we're keeping our fingers crossed.' In anticipation of her
attendance, the Queen's Plate was pushed back from the last Sunday in June to
July.
Of course, Queen Elizabeth II is no stranger to the Queen's Plate, having
attended the great race in 1959, 1973 and 1997. In addition, the late Queen
Mother was a regular guest at the racetrack, which always attracts the who's who
of Canadian society as well as the country's best horses, trainers and jockeys.
Although it's still too early to determine who will start in the Queen's Plate
this year, given that it's the race's 150th anniversary and that it may be
attended by the Queen, there is little doubt that it will contain a field
comprising only the best 3-year-old Canadian-bred horses, with plenty of scope
for betting fans.
The Queen's Plate is the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown. The second leg
is the Prince of Wales Stakes in July at Fort Erie Racetrack on dirt over 1 3/16
miles, which is followed by the third and final leg, the Breeders' Stakes in
August at the E. P. Taylor Turf Course at Woodbine on turf over 1? miles.
