Contest for throwing cheese plates (12)
I believe the answer is:
steeplechase
'contest' is the definition.
(steeplechase is a kind of contest)
'throwing cheese plates' is the wordplay.
'throwing' is an anagram indicator (letters get thrown around).
'cheese'+'plates'='cheeseplates'
'cheeseplates' with letters rearranged gives 'STEEPLECHASE'.
'for' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for steeplechase that I've seen before include "Horse race with ditches and hedges" , "Race with obstacles to be jumped" , "run?" , "Type of horse race" , "Maybe Grand National" .)