Emerald Downs is a thoroughbred racetrack in Auburn, Washington, located a half mile east of Highway 167.

EMERALD DOWNS TICKETS EVENT DATE AVAILABILITY Emerald Downs Live Racing Tickets 6/12 Jun 12, 2026 Fri, 7:00 PM Emerald Downs Live Racing Tickets 6/13 Jun 13, 2026 Sat, 1:50 PM Emerald Downs Live Racing Tickets 6/14 Jun 14, 2026 Sun, 1:50 PM Emerald Downs Live Racing Tickets 6/19 Jun 19, 2026 Fri, 7:00 PM Emerald Downs Live Racing Tickets 6/20 Jun 20, 2026 Sat, 1:50 PM

History

Emerald Downs opened in 1996 to large crowds. The track replaced Longacres, which closed in September 1992 after sixty seasons of racing.

Physical attributes

The Emerald Downs track consists of a one mile dirt oval. There is no turf course. The bid board is in the center of the oval track.

Racing

The track races from April to October. The track conducts several large ungraded stakes and many overnight handicaps and stakes.

Longacres Mile

Emerald Downs biggest race is the Longacres Mile Handicap, a Grade III event. The race was announced in June 1935 so Longacres founder Joe Gottstein could have a signature one mile race. He felt the mile was an overlooked distance, neither a sprint nor an endurance run. In order to attract racers and attention, the purse was set at $10,000, instantly the largest staked one mile race in the country (and it would remain so for more than 40 years).

As soon as the announcement was made, the first running of the race had 20 entrants; 16 actually started. The stakes attracted the owners of a New Orleans horse named Biff, grandson of legendary Man o' War, who had just won $5000 in Chicago. Biff had the attention of everyone for weeks before the event and no owners would run their horses in preliminary races with him. Biff was first out of the gate but was stalked by Coldwater, a 20-1 longshot that wasn't regarded well. Near the end of the mile Biff was showing clear strain and Coldwater overtook him to win.