E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Ladies’ Plate (The),
in races, is not a race for a prize subscribed for by ladies, but a race run for by women.
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“On the Monday succeeding St. Wilfred’s Sunday, there were for many years at Roper’s Common [a race] called the Lady’s Plate, of £15 value, for horses, etc., ridden by women.”—Sporting Magazine, vol. xx., New Series, p. 287.
