Donau (horse)
| Donau | |
|---|---|
1910 Kentucky Derby winner Donau
|
|
| Sire | Woolsthorpe |
| Grandsire | Tibthorpe |
| Dam | Al Lone |
| Damsire | Albert |
| Sex | Stallion, eventually Gelding |
| Foaled | 1907 |
| Country | United States |
| Colour | Bay |
| Breeder | Col. Milton Young |
| Owner | 1) Col. Milton Young 2) William Gerst |
| Trainer | 1) James Blute 2) George Ham |
| Record | 111: 30-18-30 |
| Earnings | $20,156 |
| Major wins | |
|
Wakefield Stakes (1909) Kentucky Derby (1910) |
|
Wakefield Stakes (1909)
Camden Handicap (1910)
Donau (1907–1913) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and was the winner of the 1910 Kentucky Derby. Donau was known for his often temperamental and difficult personality, which led to him being gelded at the end of 1910. Donau started in 111 races over his three-year flat racing career and was in the process of being retrained for steeplechasing when he died at the age of six years in February 1913 at the Nashville farm of his owner William Gerst.
Donau was bred by Colonel Milton Young, who owned Donau's sire. At the time of Donau's birth, Col. Young and Thomas Piatt had a racing partnership. Piatt owned Brookdale Farm, a Thoroughbred stud farm located on Greendale Pike approximately seven miles northwest of Lexington, where Donau was foaled in 1907.
Donau's sire Woolsthorpe was imported from Britain by Col. Young and his racing partner Charles F. McMeekin (or according to another source Eugene Leigh) in the summer of 1900. Woolsthorpe raced for 10 seasons, from 1890 to 1899 in Britain, winning nine races out of 63 starts for his breeder Prince Peter Soltykoff. Woolsthorpe was the sire of over 200 racing winners before his death at the age of 22 at the Lexington farm of John D. Carr on July 15, 1910, about a month after Donau won the Kentucky Derby.
Donau's dam, Al Lone, was bred by H. B. Douglas and was foaled in Fayetteville, Tennessee in 1894. Al Lone was a semi-successful selling-plater with sixteen minor racing wins to her credit in 128 starts that was purchased by Thomas Piatt after her racing career ended in 1903. Al Lone produced Donau's full-brother, Wooltex, in 1909 at Brookdale Farm. Wooltex was later gelded and was a successful steeplechaser in the 1910s. Wooltex was bought by George S. Patton for $2,100 in 1912 and from Patton's personal correspondence, the gelding had a nervous and flighty personality similar to his older brother Donau.
According to Thomas Piatt, Donau had a fiery temper as a yearling, repeatedly kicking any other colt that would come near him. Piatt typically reared his yearlings in group pens, but Donau's fractious behavior led Piatt to separate him from other horses. Piatt raised Donau at Brookdale Farm until September 1908, when he was sold to William Gerst for $350. Gerst emigrated to the United States from Germany as a child and was a founder and part owner of the Gerst Brewing Company in Nashville, Tennessee. William Gerst named the colt Donau after the Danube River.
...
Wikipedia