The race is the first in the Canadian Triple Crown, typically taking place each summer at Woodbine Racetrack in Etobicoke, Ontario.

The event was scheduled in June or July until 2020, when it was postponed to September, due to government-imposed restrictions in place through the COVID-19 pandemic.

[6] In 1859, the then-President of the Toronto Turf Club, Sir Casimir Gzowski, petitioned Queen Victoria to grant a plate for a new race in the Canada West (today Ontario).

After that, the Queen's Plate became a "movable feast", with politicians from all over modern-day Ontario vying to host the race in their constituency.

The fastest time for the race on the original dirt surface at the current 1+1⁄4 mi (2 km) distance is 2:01 4/5, set by Kinghaven Farms' Izvestia in 1990.

[15] In 1964, Northern Dancer, the first Canadian-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby, also won the Queen's Plate in his final race.

This compares unfavourably to the 1990s when a number of Plate winners had considerable success thereafter, including With Approval, Izvestia, Dance Smartly and Awesome Again.

They were the daughter and great-great-granddaughter respectively of Yellow Rose, who also produced the first Queen's Plate winner Don Juan.

In April 2023, a few months after Woodbine announced that the 2023 King's Plate would again be run in August, Fort Erie filed a grievance with the Canadian Trade Commission over what it called business practices that were "unfair and clearly predatory."

A member of the Fort Erie Council suggested that the COVID pandemic was over and that the King's Plate should move back to June, adding that continuing to run the race in August would not be in Fort Erie Race Track's best economic interests, as it would result in the Prince of Wales Stakes being run after Labour Day, when the key summer tourism season is over.

Woodbine responded that Fort Erie's allegations are "baseless and without merit" and that they would defend themselves if requested by the Trade Commission.