It is run at Newcastle over a distance of 2 miles and 56 yards (3,270 metres), and it is scheduled to take place each year in late June or early July.
It was initially held at Town Moor, and it was part of a meeting first staged at Killingworth in 1623.
[1] The Northumberland Plate originally took place on a Wednesday, and for many years the meeting was a holiday for local mine workers.
[2] The Northumberland Plate is now one of the richest two-mile handicaps in the world.
It was sponsored by John Smith's from 2003 to 2016, by Stobart Rail Limited in 2017 and 2018 and by Betfair since 2019.