His Majesty’s Plate
His Majesty’s Plate is a listed flat horse race that’s open to thoroughbreds who are aged four years or older. It is a popular horse racing event run over 1 mile and 6 furlongs at Down Royal, a horse racing venue near Lisburn in Northern Ireland, that also hosts the Champions Chase which takes place in November.
First having taken place in 1996, between its inaugural edition and 2003 it was run over 12 furlongs, the exception being in 2022 when it was run over 10 furlongs. From 2003 onwards it was then run over 13 furlongs and in a further change to its format, it then became available to horses aged four or older in 2018, when prior to that, it was limited to horses who were just three years or older.
The only multiple winner
In 28 editions of the race, it’s very unique in that multiple winners are very much of a rarity. In fact, so much of a rarity that in those 28 editions only one horse has ever won it more than once.
That honour falls to Master of Reality, sired by the flat racing champion that was Frankel, who won in 2020 and 2021. He was five when he won in 2020 and six when he followed up that success in 2021.
Though Joseph O’Brien was his trainer on both occasions, in 2020 he was ridden by Wayne Lordan and the following year it was Declan McDonagh on board. For an added little tidbit of curiosity, his 2021 win came in the super quick time of 2.59 minutes, the fastest time the race was completed in since 2015, with the exception of Downdraft’s effort of 2.58 in 2019.
Age trends
Experience has been crucial over the past few years with only Perotan winning as a three-year old since 2016.
In what was just her second run and in the absence of Master of Reality and Licence, whose connections opted for them not to be entered into the race, she justified her starting price as 2/1 favourite in what was just her second ever race, winning by two and a three-quarter lengths over the staying Moon Daisy. Perotan aside, horses aged four, five or six have been the regular winners since 2017. The Tartan Spartan and Downdraft won as four-year-olds, with Twilight Payments, Master of Reality and Powerful Aggie winning as five-year olds. To go with Master of Reality’s win as a six-year-old in 2021.
Notable trainers and jockeys
If your surname is O’Brien, you would have trained all five of the last winners of this race between 2019 and 2023.
Last time out in 2023 it was Joseph O’Brien who trained Powerful Aggie, something he’d also done in both 2020 and 2021 with Master of Reality (the first of those was run in September rather than July because of the pandemic) and also the year before that with Downdraft.
The only time Joseph wasn’t in charge of the winner since 2019 was when his father Aiden O’Brien trained Perotan to glory in 2022. Of course, Aiden is no stranger to success over the years, also having winners on three other occasions.
So that means that both O’Briens have each had four winners in the race over the years, a feat also achieved by John Oxx who did so in in 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2008.
2023 His Majesty’s Plate Betting Odds
The 2023 edition was run on Friday June 23 at Down Royal, as per usual. French horse Taipan, sired by the great Frankel and trained by Mrs John Harrington, went off as the 10/11 favourite but wasn’t able to justify her starting price.
Instead, it was Powerful Aggie trained by (you guessed it) Joseph O’Brien who emerged victorious after timing her run beautifully, racing at the rear for much of the race before responding well to jockey DP McDonagh and finding something extra down the last furlong to win quite comfortably in the end.
The race was notable for having been run at quite a slow pace, Powerful Aggie doing so in 3.32 when the previous year it had been won in a time of 3.05 by Perotan and even quicker the year before when Master of Reality won for a second time in the even faster time of 2.59.