Dunavant, Woogen Honored for Lifetime Achievements in Virginia Harness Racing

Two longtime leaders in Virginia harness racing were honored Saturday at Shenandoah Downs during the first “Wall of Colors” ceremony in Woodstock.

Dr. Charlie Dunavant and Dr. Scott Woogen received lifetime achievement recognition for their decades of work supporting harness racing in Virginia. Their racing colors were mounted on the new Virginia Equine Alliance Racing & Livestock Barn, a 175-stall, 32,500-square-foot facility that opened during the fall 2025 Shenandoah Downs meet. The barn provides safe housing for the horses that race in Woodstock each spring and fall.

Dunavant, the longtime head of the Virginia Harness Horse Association, played a key role in passing pari-mutuel wagering legislation in Virginia after years of lobbying and negotiations. He and the VHHA later helped bring harness racing to Colonial Downs, where the sport ran from 1998 to 2014.

A Richmond native, Dunavant has spent 54 years in harness racing, though his love of horses began much earlier. He got his first horse at age 2 and later became interested in harness racing through ponies his father purchased when Dunavant was young. After attending veterinary school at the University of Georgia, he bought Woodhill Farm in Victoria, where he still works and lives with his wife, Jane.

Dunavant has had particular success with trotters and Virginia-bred horses. Since 2020, he and Jane have won Virginia Breeder’s Championship finals with several trotters, including Air Time, Vlahos, Big Daddy D, RIP Away, Pretty Two, and Kat’s Fancy.

Woogen’s path into harness racing began in the Bronx, where he sold tip sheets for Yonkers Raceway as a teenager. By 16, he had a work permit and was working in the stables. He later won the Collegiate Driving Championship at Roosevelt Raceway while in medical school and went on to earn his “A” license.

One of Woogen’s driving highlights came in 2005, when he won the C.K.G. Billings Harness Driving Series Championship. That victory led to invitations to amateur competitions in several countries, including Finland, Spain, Germany, Russia, and New Zealand.

Woogen served on the VHHA board for many years before becoming president in 2015, succeeding Dunavant. He helped guide Virginia harness racing through a major transition after Colonial Downs shut down, with racing moving first to Oak Ridge Estate in Nelson County in 2015 and then permanently to Woodstock in 2016.

Woogen also pointed to the creation of the Virginia Sired Stakes program as a major accomplishment. He said the program has helped increase farm activity and agricultural benefits in the state, with 15 stallions standing in Virginia this year and divisional final purses rising to $100,000.

Saturday’s ceremony recognized not only two individual careers, but also the growth of harness racing in Virginia and the people who helped keep the sport moving forward through years of change.