Exit 2 — Horses, Then Sounders

Sal on I-405 Southbound: Lynnwood to Tukwila · Oct 29, 2026 · 1m

Sal: Between exits one and two. Sal: Just south of the freeway, between here and State Route 167, sat Longacres, the home of Thoroughbred racing in western Washington. In 1933, after the state legalized betting on horses, founder Joseph Gottstein leased a 107-acre dairy farm at Renton Junction. Architect B. Marcus Priteca designed the track, and a crew of 3,000 workers built it in just 28 days. Peggy: Twenty-eight days during the Depression. Three thousand people glad of a paycheck. Sal: For almost four decades, until 1971, it was the only place in western Washington where gambling was legal…