State urged to OK $455M in borrowing for Belmont renovation

ALBANY — Business and racing industry groups on Thursday urged the state to approve borrowing for $455 million to make extensive improvements at Belmont Park to secure the future of the 120-year-old track for year-round racing “at no cost to taxpayers.”

“Belmont Park would be taken down and started from scratch, a completely new grandstand and clubhouse,” said Jeff Cannizzo, senior director of government affairs at the New York Racing Association.

The borrowing would be repaid over 30 years by NYRA, which operates thoroughbred racing statewide including at Belmont, which is owned by the state.

A similar $450 million proposal died in the State Legislature at the end of the session in June. The effort promoted Thursday seeks to include approval of the NYRA borrowing in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s budget proposal to the Legislature in January. Under the state constitution, a governor has leverage over the Legislature in negotiations during the budget process.

There was no immediate comment from Hochul or legislative leaders to the pitch by the coalition called We Are New York Horse Racing, which includes chambers of commerce and horse racing owners and trainers.

“A new Belmont Park will create thousands of jobs for New Yorkers and drive tourism downstate for decades,” Cannizzo said. “No taxpayer funds will be used for this project and NYRA will be responsible for all debt … Let’s build a new Belmont Park.”

In part, the effort is aimed at attracting the weekend-long Breeders' Cup World Championship Series, called the Super Bowl of horse racing. That series could bring hundreds of millions of dollars to Long Island, the organizers said.

The Breeders' Cup would be in addition to continuing the prestigious Belmont Stakes race, which is part of the annual Triple Crown competition with the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness in Maryland.

Earlier this month, The Breeders’ Cup organization said it had a “strong desire” to return to Belmont after a two-decades absence if improvements were made to the Elmont venue. The organization had previously criticized Belmont for its track, a lack of a heated grandstand for cold-weather racing, and other facilities that need to be upgraded. The letter to NYRA stated, “If you build it, we will come,” organizers said Thursday.

The project could help make Belmont the only thoroughbred racing venue in the New York City area by allowing Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens to be used for other entertainment instead of winter racing.

Currently, Belmont opens after the winter track season at Aqueduct in Queens and before the summer meeting at Saratoga Race Course.

But NYRA officials said the project would also benefit Saratoga, in what was a called an essential partnership with Belmont.

Thomas J. Grech, president of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, said the Belmont project would be “a win-win for our communities.”

The project would bolster horse racing that provides jobs statewide, from tracks on Long Island to horse farms upstate, said Heather Briccetti Mulligan, CEO of the Business Council of New York State.

“I’ts an incredible economic engine for New York, both upstate and down,” she said. “It’s impacts are not just the on the track … it’s the barns, the backstretch workers.”

“It’s very important we continue to invest in this very important sector of our economy,” she said.

The failed effort in June was complicated by concerns that a Belmont renovation hurt attendance at Aqueduct. NYRA officials said Thursday that the proposal won’t hurt those revenues to local and state governments. Further complicating the politics in June was Hochul’s inclusion of a $600 million plan in her budget to help fund a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills.

By Michael Gormley

michael.gormley@newsday.com@GormleyAlbany

Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.