Queen's Plate  The Queen's Plate (named the King's Plate from 1901 to 1952, when the reigning monarch was male) is Canada's oldest Thoroughbred horse race, having been founded in 1860. It is also the oldest continuously run race in North America. It is run at a distance of miles for a maximum of 17 three-year-old Thoroughbred horses foaled in Canada. The race takes place each summer, in June or July, at Woodbine Racetrack, Etobicoke, Ontario, and is the first race in the Canadian Triple Crown. The 2020 event, originally scheduled for June 27, was postponed in April because of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. It will be rescheduled later in the year, subject to restrictions and recommendations from public health officials. Woodbine announced that the running of the 2020 Queen's Plate will occur on Saturday September 12, 2020. It is yet to be determined if spectators will be allowed to attend. In 1859, while Upper Canada was still a colony of Great Britain, the then-president of the Toronto Turf Club, Sir Casimir Gzowski, petitioned Queen Victoria 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, with the prize of "a plate to the value of 50 guineas". 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 Upper 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 late June 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.