Donovan (horse)

Donovan
Donovan, by Harrington Bird
Sire	Galopin
Grandsire	Vedette
Dam	Mowerina
Damsire	Scottish Chief
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1886
Country	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Colour	Bay
Breeder	William Cavendish-Bentinck, 6th Duke of Portland
Owner	William Cavendish-Bentinck, 6th Duke of Portland
Trainer	George Dawson
Record	21: 18-2-1
Earnings	£55,443
Major wins
New Stakes (1888) July Stakes (1888) Middle Park Plate (1888) Dewhurst Stakes (1888) Newmarket Stakes (1889) Epsom Derby (1889) Prince of Wales's Stakes (1889) St Leger (1889) Lancashire Plate (1889)

Donovan (1886–1905) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted from 1888 to 1889 he ran twenty-one times and won eighteen races. He was the leading British two-year-old of 1888 when he won eleven of his thirteen starts. At three Donovan won The Derby and the St Leger: he failed to win the English Triple Crown owing to a narrow and probably unlucky defeat in the 2000 Guineas. He set a world record by earning a total of £55,443 in win prize money. Donovan was a modest success as a stallion. He died after being injured in an accident in 1905.

Donovan was a dark-coated bay bred by his owner William Cavendish-Bentinck, 6th Duke of Portland a Conservative politician and landowner. Among the Duke’s other horses were the undefeated St. Simon and the 1888 Derby winner Ayrshire. He was sent into training with George Dawson at his Heath House Stable in Newmarket, Suffolk.

Donovan’s sire Galopin was an outstanding racehorse who won the Derby in 1872 and went on to be a successful and influential stallion, being Champion sire on three occasions. Mowerina, Donovan’s dam, won sixteen races and produced several winners including the 1000 Guineas winner Semolina and the colt Raeburn, the only horse ever to defeat Isinglass.

Donovan appeared in the first week of the flat season to win the Brocklesby Stakes at Lincoln Racecourse "a bit cleverly" by two lengths from the filly Poem. He then took the Portland Stakes at Leicester, winning by three lengths from a field of twenty-four opponents for a prize of £6,000, making the race more valuable than the Derby. In the £5,000 Whitsuntide Plate at Manchester Racecourse, Donovan was set to carry 136 pounds and suffered his first defeat when four lengths second to the well-fancied Chitabob.