by Mike Wandishin, for Shenandoah Downs

Woodstock, VA — The newly enlarged and renovated track at the Shenandoah Fairgrounds (formerly Woodstock Raceway) will host its first pari-mutuel meet beginning Saturday (Sept 10) and it will race on Saturdays and Sundays for five weeks.

Among the renovations are enlargement and improvement to the fair track which has served horsemen for 98 years. At this point the horses will score eight across on the starting gate, improved services, temporary stalls and a general freshening up of the physical plant, while keeping the county fair charm.

The Shenandoah County Fair will be held the week immediately before the pari-mutuel meet opens so any issues will have been identified and handled.

We anticipate the smallest purse being $3,500 and total purses daily of approximately $50,000. Each card will have approximately 10 races. There is stabling available for the entire meet with both a campground and local hotels available for horsemen electing to come to the first meet. Virginia Preferred horses will have preference in all races, but it is anticipated that most events will be opened up.

Stall applications are available here and they must be returned to Shenandoah Downs by 12 noon on Monday (Aug. 8). If space allows horsemen will be able to ship in for the weekend, but that won’t be decided until the available stall space is determined. There will be approximately 150 stalls available and the stall allocations will be available on Wednesday (Aug. 17).

Important note to all considering racing at Shenandoah Downs, per Virginia State Law:

All horses entering the grounds must be accompanied by a valid health certificate dated within 30 days (the racing office may require additional health certificates at its discretion); verification of negative Coggins test dated within 12 months; and Herpes vaccination dated within seven to 90 days. State law requires that Coggins test report must be hardcopy (original or photocopy) and must be available for presentation on the grounds.

Horses entering races at Shenandoah Downs must have a Coggins test posted on the USTA website at the time of entry, or must present a hardcopy of the current Coggins test report to the Racing Secretary, before entry.

For more information on the upcoming meet please contact Mike Wandishin at 302.509.1861.