Heavy rain made it impossible to run the Royal Stand Plate over its usual distance of 2 miles, so it was shortened to 5 furlongs on the only raceable part of the course.
The amended version was called the Queen's Stand Plate, and it subsequently became the most important sprint at the Royal meeting.
[1] The present system of race grading was introduced in 1971, and the King's Stand Stakes was given Group 1 status in 1973.
The King's Stand Stakes became part of a new international race series, the Global Sprint Challenge, in 2005.
It is now the fourth leg of the series, preceded by the KrisFlyer International Sprint and followed by the Golden Jubilee Stakes.