Donau (horse) owner of the Gerst Brewing Company in Nashville, Tennessee. William Gerst named the colt Donau after the Danube River. William Gerst remarked on Donau's qualities and personality, "[he] has the speed of a sprinter, the courage of a bulldog, and the gameness of a fighting cock." Fred Herbert, Donau's jockey in the Derby, said of the often temperamental horse, "he likes to be in company and don't fret a bit when he comes on the track with another horse, while just alone he is a bit nervous." Donau spent much of his early racing career in California. Donau started 41
Donau (horse) the "Daily Racing Form" suggesting that the break from racing was due to Donau being a "track demon" with a "disposition to do nothing asked of him." Donau was gelded at the end of his three-year-old season in an attempt to curb his behavior, but he was still fractious. However, in March of 1912 he won the South Carolina Selling Stakes at Palmetto Park in Charleston, South Carolina. Donau was retired from flat racing in December 1912, at age five. Donau was in the process of being re-trained for steeplechasing when he died suddenly in February 1913 during a disease