State Authorizes Turf Course at Finger Lakes But ...

Finger Lakes Casino & Racetrack in upstate New York is again authorized by the state to spend up to $2 million from its casino capital account on a new turf track, according to a budget plan released this week by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

But the head of the horsemen's group at the track has little confidence the additional course will be built.

"I just don't think it's realistic. I don't think there's any other money out there,'' said David Brown, president of the Finger Lakes Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association.

The state a year ago authorized the same plan, but the idea went nowhere.

The horsemen's group last year voted to put up $1 million from its purse account to help finance the construction of a turf course. Thoroughbred owners and breeders believe turf would help attract out-of-state and downstate owners to the facility located near Rochester, thereby boosting field sizes that have declined over the years.

The $2 million line item in the newly proposed state budget is not funding, but authorization to let Delaware North Cos., the track's owner, dip into a capital account that is otherwise intended to fund improvements at the racino attached to the track.

But Brown said the company has been using that account to make major improvements at the racino and last year was not interested in using that fund's money to pay what the horsemen estimate could be another $2 million to $3 million beyond what the horsemen's group agreed to pay for the course.

"I wouldn't be surprised if that's the same response this year,'' Brown said.

He noted the budget language is not mandatory that capital account funding be spent on a turf course, and the state is not offering funds to pay for the construction. "I don't see that it's forthcoming,'' he said of the idea.

"I'm not sure what (New York Racing Association) thinks about us having a turf track here, but the horsemen here believe it would be very helpful,'' Brown added. "At one point, I really thought it was going to work."

A Finger Lakes executive at the track did not return a call seeking comment.

Cuomo's budget also seeks to change how much money the company will get in revenue sharing proceeds from its racino operation. Precisely how it will affect video lottery terminal payments to the track is not made clear in the budget plan, but Cuomo's fiscal proposal said it wanted to reduce what it called a "windfall" in VLT proceeds that it maintains has gone in the past to Finger Lakes and the racino at the harness track in Saratoga Springs.

Brown said the change in the VLT payment formula proposed by Cuomo should not have any effect on purses for the horsemen because the group has already signed a purse-setting contract with Finger Lakes for the year.