Save the date for L'Ormarins Queen's Plate 2017

The two-day affair will make this South Africa’s first and biggest horse racing festival with a race card of 18 races.

Festivities

The first eight races will take place on Friday and includes the Sceptre Stakes, the premier sprint race for fillies in the Western Cape.

Beyond the track, Friday will also be a Ladies Day with the hosting of a Luncheon and Garden Party with gates closing swiftly at the end of the day’s racing in order to prepare for the headline race the following day.

As is tradition, the running of the Grade 1 L'Ormarins Queen's Plate will take place on Saturday with racing enthusiasts from all over the world expected to watch South Africa’s finest thoroughbreds compete for the R1m purse.

“Although multi-day racing festivals are popular in other parts of the world, this will be a first for South Africa and we hope to follow in the footsteps of other racing festivals such as the Qatar Goodwood Festival, Royal Ascot and the Melbourne Cup,” says LQP festival co-ordinator, Katherine Gray.

Both days will offer an array of music and entertainment across a number of hospitality marquees, including the Stud Club and Style Lounge.

L’Ormarins Queen’s Plate Promo 2016 from L'Ormarins Queen's Plate on Vimeo.

Best-dressed wins

Guests wearing blue and white will hold true to the original LQP aesthetic. The best-dressed lady and partner will stand a chance to win an all expenses paid trip of a lifetime, to attend the UK’s biggest race day, Glorious Goodwood.

The best-dressed lady embodies the blue and white tradition of LQP as demonstrated earlier this year by 2016 winner Naledi Mabuso.

Underscoring the race’s global status, the LQP winner is automatically granted entrance to the Mile Division of the Breeder’s Cup, the biggest annual race day in the world, held in the United States. In addition, The Peninsula Stakes, sponsored by England’s Goodwood Racecourse, will run at LQP for the fourth consecutive year.

Listed by the Telegraph in the United Kingdom in 2014 as one of the top five race days in the world, LQP is ranked alongside other races, including the likes of Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Paris), Breeder’s Cup (California), Melbourne Cup and Dubai World Cup.

lqp.co.za