Madison, WI – The Wisconsin Harness Horse Association is proud to announce its first Hall of Fame inductee for the Class of 2025. Scott Douglas of Darlington, Wis., will be inducted at the Jan. 24 event in Madison.
Scott is now in the fourth decade of his racing career, which started as a kid in the 80s training alongside his brother Butch and many other local horsemen. He has trained horses at the Lafayette County Fairgrounds in Darlington and a farm track outside of Darlington before making the Iowa County Fairgrounds in Mineral Point his home.
He has raced all over the Midwest, predominately the county fairs in Wisconsin and Illinois, the now defunct Quad City Downs and all of the Chicagoland racetracks. He has done so by being a forever Wisconsin resident.
Scott has done it all – from breeding mares to breaking babies, and from training to driving. He has a special knack for picking out yearlings and slowly bringing them along to be tough racehorses. He has never had a large stable, but it has always been a winning stable as you can see outlined below with all of the awards he has won from the WHHA.
Horses generally do not stay in the Douglas Stable for many years, as Scott knows when to sell and give the horse a chance to race for better purses across the country. It’s his conditioning that has led this small stable to producing five $100,000-plus winners, one of which made over a quarter of a million dollars! Certainly, no small task for a small stable in southwestern Wisconsin!
Scott has garnered a total of 26 top ten awards throughout his continuing career. Pacers have been Scott’s specialty, as noted with his 2014 undefeated champion Super Son Of Sandy (which also piloted him to Horseperson of the Year), two runner-up Pacers of the Year (Sues Blue Jeans and Santanna Long Legs), and an additional 21 top ten pacers spanning from 1995-2025.
His first trotter in decades, Ritzy Rae, became Co-Trotter of the Year in 2024 and he added his first top ten driving honor in 2025. Scott has also owned or trained four Wisconsin track-record-holders, three of which were at his home track of Mineral Point. Idel Byrd twice broke the Iowa County Fairgrounds track record (1991 and 1993) and Im A Hot Sport broke the record in 2004.
Scott is no stranger to giving back to the harness racing community. He was instrumental in keeping racing going through the 1990s in his hometown of Darlington. He fought hard to get racing back there years after a hiatus and was recognized with a WHHA Service Award (along with his wife, Lori) in 1998 for those efforts. Scott served a three-year term on the WHHA Board of Directors and spent eight years as Superintendent of Speed at Mineral Point.
Through his accomplishments and dedication to harness horse racing, Scott has earned himself a rightful spot in the Wisconsin Harness Racing Hall of Fame.
For those wishing to attend the banquet and honor Scott, contact WHHA President Gabe Wand at 608-574-5468 or gabewand@yahoo.com for more information.