Belmont Stakes Odds

June 5 (Bloomberg) -- Odds are improving that New York will continue to host the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown, at least through 2023.

The New York Racing Association gained a $25 million loan from the state to allow it to hold racing meets at its three tracks through Sept. 6. After that, Belmont Park, Saratoga and Aqueduct will rely on New York’s Franchise Oversight Board to subsidize racing until video lottery terminals, or VLTs, at Aqueduct race course begin to generate revenue.

“With the Franchise Oversight Board and VLTs coming on board, New York will be well prepared to operate the franchise through 2023,” NYRA President Charles Hayward said in a telephone interview from his office in New York.

The racing association in May told employees that the $1 million Belmont Stakes, which is run today, would be the organization’s last day of racing if a cash infusion couldn’t be found. The statement also covered Saratoga and Aqueduct.

The slot machines at Aqueduct will bring in an estimated $35 million in operating income, according to Hayward. Under the agreement to install them, the state agreed to make payments to the racing association if no machines were installed by May 31, 2009.

The New York Lottery this week released the names of six bidders willing to put down $1 million for the chance to win the terminals contract at Aqueduct.

Bid Proposals

The lottery will accept proposals from the bidders, including Wyomissing, Pennsylvania-based Penn National Gaming Inc., on June 29 with the recommendation going to the governor Aug. 3, said Carolyn Hapeman, a spokeswoman for the lottery.

Ice Box, who finished second in the Kentucky Derby, is the 3-1 favorite to win today’s 12-horse Belmont Stakes. First Dude, who was runner-up at the Preakness Stakes, is a 7-2 chance.

Neither Derby winner Super Saver nor Preakness winner Lookin At Lucky entered the 1 1/2-mile race in Elmont, New York. The last time neither winner of the first two legs of the Triple Crown didn’t race at the Belmont was in 2006.

The Belmont and the $1 million Travers at Saratoga helped elevate New York’s purses to $133.1 million last year, second in the U.S. to California’s $174.4 million, according to the Jockey Club, which oversees thoroughbred breeding in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. Saratoga ranked first with $729,100 in purses last year and Belmont’s fall meet was fourth at $556,295 among North America’s tracks, according to the Thoroughbred Times.

NYRA owns the intellectual property for the Belmont and the other races run at its tracks. The state owns the 1,000 acres on which the tracks stand after paying the NYRA $105 million to help it move out of bankruptcy in 2008.

“I think the question of what would happen to the Belmont if we became insolvent, I suppose the way it is set up now, the Franchise Oversight Board would be responsible for continuing racing,” Hayward said.