The U.S. Trotting Association announced Tuesday (June 15) that Dr. Scott Woogen is replacing Russell MacKinnon for the remainder of his term through March 2022 as a director for District 11 on the USTA Board of Directors. MacKinnon voluntarily stepped down from his position on the Board.

District 11 represents USTA members in Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia.

Dr. Woogen, a board-certified Gastroenterologist practicing in Virginia, is a longtime horse owner and breeder as well as amateur driver. He has owned more than 200 horses and bred 100 to date.

“I’m excited to be able to help the sport that I’m very passionate about on the national level after being involved locally in Virginia,” said Dr. Woogen on his appointment to the Board.

Named the 2005 Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame Amateur Driving Champion when he had a career best year with 21 wins, Dr. Woogen has participated nationally in the Capital Area Amateur Drivers Association, C.K.G. Billings Harness Driving Series, Florida Amateur Driving Club, GSY Amateur Racing Club and North American Amateur Drivers Association races. In addition, he has driven internationally in Canada, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain and New Zealand. He’s known as the “Driving Doctor” in the Billing Series.

Dr. Woogen became interested in harness racing as a youth when a NYC police officer recruited him to sell his Top Trotter tip sheets. While selling those sheets and programs, he occasionally went to Yonkers Raceway to watch the races.

“I started reading the programs and taking an occasional bus up there to Yonkers Raceway and watched the races,” Dr. Woogen told the USTA’s Ken Weingartner for a 2014 story on ustrotting.com. “I really liked it. When I was old enough, I got working papers and worked a little bit in the stable area on the weekends.”

His studies took him away from the track until he returned as an amateur driver in 1998.

Dr. Woogen has practiced with Richmond Gastroenterology Associates since 1994. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Columbia University in 1977 where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He followed with medical school at New York School of Medicine where he graduated in 1981 and was a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha, an honour medical fraternity. Upon graduation he was offered a residency at the Medical College of Virginia becoming board certified in Internal Medicine in 1984. He also completed his fellowship in Gastroenterology at the Medical College of Virginia and became Chief Fellow in 1986. While Chief Fellow, he was awarded a grant for Intestinal Immunology Research from the National Institutes of Health.

He was board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine-Gastroenterology in 1988 and began his career as an Assistant Professor at the Medical College of Virginia.

Currently, Dr. Woogen serves as a Clinical Professor of Medicine for the Medical College of Virginia and is a member of the American Society of Internal Medicine, the American Gastroenterological Association, the Virginia Gastroenterological Society, Richmond Academy of Medicine, and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation.

Originally from the Bronx, N.Y., he enjoys spending time with his two children and five grandchildren as well as playing golf.

(USTA)