What is the Newmarket Town Plate?

The Newmarket Town Plate is an historic race, still run, albeit with significant adjustments to the ‘The Articles of the Newmarket Town Plate’, instituted by King Charles in 1665, at Newmarket Racecourse in Suffolk. Of course, the Jockey Club did not come into existence until 1750, but the aformentioned Articles are one of the first sets, if not the first set, of rules governing a heat at the headquarters of British horse racing.

The ‘Merry Monarch’ decreed that what is now known as the Newmarket Town Plate was ‘to be rid for yearly, the seconde Thursday in October, for ever’. Notwithstanding abandonment during World War II and, once, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the race has continued, in more or less recognisable form, since its inception over three and a half centuries ago.

Originally known as the Twelve Stone Plate and subsequently as the King’s Plate, the race is still run over the original distance of 3 miles and 6 furlongs, at least in part on the original Round Course, which was specifically designed for the purpose. Horses carry level weights, of 12st 0lb with overweight limited to 3lb, and participating riders must be true amateurs, aged at least 16 years; professional jockeys, stable staff and grooms are ineligible.

The Newmarket Town Plate is longer run on the second Thursday in October, but nonetheless provides a fitting, if slightly quirky, finale to the summer racing season at the Suffolk course. Nowadays, the start of the original Round Course is located in the grounds of the National Stud and the course is used, solely, for the Newmarket Town Plate. Three and three-quarter miles later, participants cross the finishing line on the July Course, better known as the home of races such as the Falmouth Stakes and the July Cup.