Emerald Downs

Emerald Downs is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Auburn, Washington, located a half mile east of Highway 167. It is named after Seattle, the Emerald City.

History

Emerald Downs first opened its doors to race fans on June 20, 1996, with the inaugural 100-day meet running through November 4. It replaced Longacres Racetrack, which closed in September 1992 after sixty seasons of racing. Following the closure of Longacres, racing was not held in Western Washington from 1993–1995. However, Thoroughbred racing continued at Yakima Meadows and Playfair Race Course in Spokane during this time. Emerald Downs operated as a Limited Partnership from 1996 to 2015, with a group of investors led by Ron Crockett. In 2002, the land where Emerald Downs is situated was purchased by the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe for roughly $70 million. The Tribe purchased the track buildings and facilities and formed Emerald Downs Racing LLC in 2015. The Tribe has made a number of improvements since taking over the operation including a infield big screen. Emerald Downs celebrated its 20th anniversary Monday, June 20, 2016, with a special night of racing featuring many of the stars from the track's first two decades.

Physical attributes

The Track

The Emerald Downs track is a one-mile oval in the shadow of Mount Rainier. The track surface itself is made of geo-textile fabric, washed rock, coarse sand, and one-component track material. However, there is no turf course. The tote board is located in the center of the oval track.
The Emerald Downs infield is designed as a storm system that is sized to accommodate all storm runoff for the entire southern portion of the track property, including all rooftop surfaces as well as parking lots and the racetrack surface. Before releasing any water, Emerald Downs tests for turbidity and PH levels. Samples are also sent to a laboratory for further testing of dissolved oxygen, ammonia and fecal coliform levels. Finally, the water is released into Mill Creek at an engineered rate of discharge in order to help prevent flooding downstream from the track. Much of the infield is under water during the fall and winter, creating a home for ducks, geese, and other small wildlife.

The grandstand

The Emerald Downs Grandstand is a modern racetrack facility designed by EwingCole. There is general admission seating on track level, including a grassy park area with free children's activities on weekends. Outside on the third floor are box and reserved seats in the grandstand, as well as box and reserved seats on the fifth floor indoor clubhouse.
Pari-mutuel windows are located on each floor to place wagers. There are eight food stands and six beverage services throughout the facility.

Barn area

Each of the 11 barns is a complete facility for horsemen with: 116 stalls; 22 tack and feed storage areas; six trainer offices; 12 hay and straw storage areas; 10 wash racks; 13 dorm rooms for grooms and six mechanical hot walkers. Each stall is by in size. For the horse's protection, each stall is padded with plywood wainscot kick-boards.

Sales pavilion

The Morris J. Alhadeff Sales Pavilion is the home for the Washington Thoroughbred Breeders Association. The $1 million facility opened to the public on December 14, 1997, for the 1997 Winter Sale. It was funded by significant donations from Micheal and Kenneth Alhadeff and other industry members. The entire structure—including the sales arena and of office space—is.

Paddock and saddling area

Beside the grandstand is a paddock and covered horse saddling area. Paved surfaces around the paddock and up to the saddling area provide spectators an opportunity to view the horses when the horses are in these areas. Prior to the start of each race, horses are walked through the paddock into the saddling area, walked around the saddling area a few times and their saddles put on. Once the horses are saddled, they are walked once around the paddock before the jockey mounts the horse and the horses are walked out to the race track.

Equine hospital

Funded jointly by Northwest Racing Associates, track veterinarians, the families of Mike and Ken Alhadeff and private contributors, the Morris J. Alhadeff Equine Hospital is a state-of-the-art facility used by the Emerald Downs Veterinary Association. The vet clinic includes:

Surgery suite
Two padded induction/recovery rooms
Radiology room
Prep room for minor procedures
Isolation stall
Dark room for film developing
Office space
Mitigation site

As part of the process in building the facility that exists today, Northwest Racing Associates, L.P. developed an extensive plan to mitigate the impact of a fill on low grade wetlands on the Emerald Downs property. Located a mile and one-half south of the track property, at a cost of $6.5 million, of wetlands were created or enhanced. On the east side of SR-167, 100,000 cubic yards of soil were excavated, creating of open water. Habitat features were added to benefit water fowl, birds of prey and mammals.

Washington Racing Hall of Fame

The Washington Horse Racing Hall of Fame is housed on the track level of the grandstand. Inductees are recognized for their accomplishments in five main categories: jockeys, trainers, horses, breeders, or lifetime achievement. The inductees for each class, year, of inductees are determined by a combination of the media, Emerald Downs, the Washington Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association, and the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association. Emerald Downs shares videos highlighting various hall of fame inductees and their induction ceremony on its YouTube channel.
A number of individuals inducted into this hall of fame have also been recognized at the Washington state level for sports excellence and are inductees in the State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame as well. These individuals include Basil James, Joe Gottstein, Russell Baze, and Albert Johnson.

Racing

Emerald Downs hosts live Thoroughbred racing during the spring and summer. The 2025 racing season will start in late April or early May and will conclude in September. Races are run Friday through Sunday during the summer months. The tracks biggest race is the Longacres Mile. There are an average of 7-8 races on weeknights, and 10 races per race weekend. In addition to live racing, the track offers simulcast wagering and a card room casino year round.
The first Quarter Horse race in track history was held in 2010. In 2011, Emerald Downs added a major Quarter Horse stakes, the $60,000 Bank of America Emerald Championship Challenge Stakes run on Labor Day weekend.
Emerald Downs also hosts Indian Relay Racing every year during Father's Day Weekend.

Jockeys

Juan Gutierrez passed Gallyn Mitchell to become is the all-time leading rider at Emerald Downs with 1,592 wins.
Jennifer Whitaker is the all-time leading female rider with 525 wins.
Ricky Frazier set records for wins in a season and earnings in 2007. The track record for wins in a single day is six, shared by Seth Martinez and Kevin Radke. Eliska Kubinova set a record for wins by an apprentice with 75 victories in 2012.
Many famous jockeys have ridden at Emerald Downs, including several members of the Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame. Laffit Pincay Jr., Eddie Delahoussaye, Russell Baze, Gary Stevens, Alex Solis, Garrett Gomez, David Flores, Robby Albarado and Gary Baze have all competed on the Emerald Downs oval.

Rank	Jockey	Career Wins 1996–2024
1	Juan Gutierrez	1,592
2	Gallyn Mitchell	1,419
3	Ricky Frazier	886
4	Leslie Mawing	821
5	Kevin Radke	669
6	Javier Matias	658
7	Rocco Bowen	619
8	Frank Gonsalves	561
9	Jennifer Whitaker	525
10	Ben Russell	501
11	Jose Zunino	470
12	Debbie Hoonan	439
13	Kevin Krigger	424
14	Nate Chaves	417
15	Pedro Alvarado	400

Trainers

Washington Hall of Fame trainers Frank Lucarelli and Tim McCanna rank 1-2 in all-time wins at Emerald Downs. McCanna has 10 titles while Lucarelli has collected seven.
Doris Harwood set a record for earnings in a single season with $930,000 in 2009. She also won 12 stakes in 2009, tying a track record she set in 2007, and is No. 1 all-time with 67 stakes wins at Emerald Downs.

Rank	Trainer	Career Wins 1996–2024
1	Frank Lucarelli	1,169
2	Tim McCanna	976
3	Howard Belvoir	828
4	Jim Penney	662
5	Sharon / Larry Ross	596
6	Doris Harwood	561
7	Blaine Wright	503
8	Tom Wenzel	472
9	Vince Gibson	443
9	Roy Lumm	443
11	Joe Toye	426
12	Charlie Essex	407

Owners

Rank	Owner	Career Wins 1996–2015
1	Ron Crockett Inc.	246
2	Sue & Tim Spooner	172
3	Larry & Veralene Hillis	155
4	Howard Belvoir	144
5	Billie Klokstad	129
6	Dunn Bar Ranch	121
7	Northwest Farms	108
8	Homestretch Farms Inc.	104
9	Seawind Stables LLC	102
10	Hern/LePley Racing	101