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 the age of 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.

The Derby Stakes, also known as the Derby or the Epsom Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in England open to three-year-old colts and fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey on the first Saturday of June each year, over a distance of one mile, four furlongs and 10 yards, or about 1½ miles. It was first run in 1780.