Watling Street (horse)

Watling Street
Sire	Fairway
Grandsire	Phalaris
Dam	Ranai
Damsire	Rabelais
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1939
Country	Great Britain
Colour	Bay
Breeder	Lord Derby
Owner	Lord Derby
Trainer	Walter Earl
Record	9: 4-4-1
Earnings	£ not found
Major wins
Chesterfield Stakes (1941) British Classic Race wins: Epsom Derby (1942)

Watling Street (1939–1953) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career which lasted from spring 1941 to September 1942 he ran nine times and won four races. Having been rated the third best British two-year-old of his generation he went on to greater success as a three-year-old the following year when he won a wartime substitute version of the Epsom Derby and finished second in both the 2000 Guineas and the "New" St Leger. At the end of 1942 he was retired to a stud career of limited importance. He was eventually exported to the United States where he died in 1953.

Watling Street was a tall, leggy bay horse standing 16.1¾ hands high bred by his owner Lord Derby and the colt was named for Watling Street, an ancient trackway in England and Wales. His sire, Fairway, had been a highly successful racehorse for Lord Derby, winning the St Leger and two runnings of the Champion Stakes. Watling's Street's dam, Ranai, won two minor races before producing many good winners including the 2000 Guineas winner Garden Path.

Lord Derby sent the horse to his private trainer Walter Earl at his Stanley House stable in Newmarket, Suffolk.

The Second World War led to horse racing being conducted on a restricted scale with a restructured programme. With many racecourses used by the military or considered dangerous due to their proximity to major population centres, races were either cancelled or moved away from their traditional venues. Most of the major races, including all the classics were run at Newmarket.

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