- Emerald Downs
Emerald Downs is a
thoroughbred racetrack inAuburn, Washington , located a half mile east of Highway 167.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 onemile 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.External links
* [http://www.emdowns.com/ Emerald Downs]
* [http://www.gosleepgo.com/guide/us/wa/auburn/emerald-downs Emerald Downs] at GoSleepGo
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
