Longacres was a Thoroughbred horse racetrack in Renton, Washington, United States. Owned by the Gottstein/Alhadeff family and operated by the Washington Jockey Club for the vast majority of its existence, the racetrack was the home of Thoroughbred racing in Western Washington from its opening in 1933 and was the longest continuously running track on the West Coast upon its closure. Until 1971, it was also the only place in Western Washington where gambling was legal. Notable races held at the racetrack include the Longacres Mile Handicap and the Gottstein Futurity.
After several years of losses due to increasing gambling and entertainment competition, the property was sold to Boeing in 1990. Boeing allowed the track to operate for two more years after the sale until the end of the 1992 season; the company demolished its structures in 1995. Boeing eventually built a new headquarters for its Commercial Airplanes division on the property along with a customer-training center; however, the company vacated the property and sold it in 2021 to Unico Partners. Seattle Sounders FC, in partnership with Unico, plans to renovate the site for use as a training facility; it is projected to open in January 2024.
History
Background
Before Longacres, two other racetracks had previously existed within the general vicinity of Seattle. The first, Seattle Race Course, was built in 1869 by Seattle saloon and brothel owner John Pinnell on land rented from pioneer Diana Collins; later known as the Seattle Driving Park after a hiatus from 1878 to 1883, it closed in 1892 to make way for development on the land.
The second racetrack, Meadows, was built south of the city in then-independent Georgetown by the King County Fair Association under the leadership of Republican politician A. T. Van de Vanter. It opened on August 9, 1902, with four events spectated by more than 3,000 visitors; the first event saw Pathmark defeat Daniel J. in a best-of-five series of one-mile heats to win a $1,000 purse. The racetrack held its first program on August 18; Royalty won the first running of its marquee event, the Seattle Derby, on August 23, winning a $1,000 purse before 5,000 spectators. Despite the racetrack's success leading it to host the region's first automobile race in 1905, it met its demise after the 1908 horse-racing season when the Washington State Legislature abolished gambling on horse races in February 1909 with the support of then-Governor Albert E. Mead, with the ban taking effect on June 12. The site of the racetrack was eventually redeveloped in 1928 as Boeing Field, Seattle's first municipal airport.
Founding and early years
The person most responsible for reintroducing horse racing in the state of Washington was Joseph Gottstein (1891–1971), a Seattle real estate magnate whose father, a liquor wholesaler who immigrated from Poland in 1879, had a racing stable and was a stakeholder in Meadows; Gottstein's passion for horse racing started when he was gifted his first Thoroughbred horse at the age of eight. After attending college at Brown University, he returned to Seattle and started investing in the city's downtown real estate market; it was during this time that he met and partnered with fellow magnate William Edris, who shared his passion for horse racing. Together, they lobbied the state legislature to legalize parimutuel betting starting in 1922. After years of lobbying, they got their wish in 1933 when House Bill 59, introduced by Democratic state representative Joseph B. Roberts, was signed into law by then-Governor Clarence Martin on March 3 after passing the state House and Senate respectively on February 20 and 23; the Washington Horse Racing Commission, a three-member commission appointed by the governor, was formed in the process.