SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY, May 19, 2010--That howling whoosh you might have heard coming from the North Country on Tuesday was the huge sigh of relief emanating from people living in New York‘s Capital District, especially in this “city in the country.”

For the last two months, this community, from breeders to horsemen to the merchants on Broadway, has been in a full court press trying to make certain that this July and August would be no different than last summer’s place to be.

The wish was simple: To be sure that the land of “history, health and horses,” wouldn’t become, well, history.

“I was afraid this town was going to look the way it did in the 1970s,” said Jackie Clark, owner of Broadway Salon in downtown Saratoga, after hearing that the race meeting would proceed as scheduled.

Canceling the Saratoga session, still the most prestigious race meet in the country, was unthinkable. “There will always be a Saratoga” went a popular refrain. But in the last week to 10 days, that speculation sounded more like a prayer than fait accompli.

The situation came to a head within 72 hours. On Sunday, New York Racing Association president Charlie Hayward said the NYRA was considering closing down on June 6, the day after the Belmont Stakes. “When we run out of money, we stop,” Hayward said about the possibility.

"That's not going to happen," Gov. David Paterson told the Associated Press two days later. "We have a plan to loan NYRA, in the short term, money to get through Saratoga, and we're working on a long-term plan to help beyond that."

The long and winding road to the Aqueduct Racino has been lined with broken promises and aborted timetables. Until a loan accord is signed, no one should rest easy.

“Before any taxpayer money is used we would like to know how much money NYRA actually has,” said Austin Shafran, spokesman for Senate Conference Leader John Sampson. “We’ve heard conflicting reports as to whether they have the money to continue operations through the Belmont Stakes.”

As they say on the racetrack: Whoa!

Maybe Mr. Shafran should have said something like: “This isn’t supposed to be about taxpayer money; it’s really about a $17-million advance on the $300-million up-front money to be paid by the VLT franchise awardee.”

Or, he might have asked rhetorically: “Aren’t we [state government] in default on an agreement that was supposed to fund NYRA’s operation starting in April of 2009 if the VLTs weren’t on line?

“Wasn’t that part of the franchise deal in which we got title to three racetrack properties valued at about $2-billion?” So don’t we owe them $30 million?”

“And another thing: We’re responsible for New York City Off Track Betting now, right? Does that mean we’re on the hook for their $17 million, too? And we‘ve stopped giving them a piece of the handle action, right?”

Let me answer those statements and hypotheticals for you, Mr. Shafran: You bet your hindquarters you do.

The New York Racing Association, its horsemen, employees, and citizens from Albany to Schroon Lake are no longer waiting to exhale. But neither can they breathe easier. Despite Paterson’s assurances, this is no done deal. No wonder NYRA executives have had no comment since the announcement.

When the idea of a $17-million front-money loan first surfaced, it sounded like a no-brainer. It is, after all, free money from the private sector against future VLT earnings and not a “taxpayer bailout of rich horse owners.”

If that were the case, it would have been better categorized as a taxpayer bailout of hard working underpaid backstretch personnel.

Any monies fronted NYRA would have “bailed out” hundreds of backstretch families which without racing would be forced from their palatial backstretch barracks and into nap-sacks lined up outside the gates on Hempstead Turnpike and Union Avenue.

The Saratoga race meet, the only NYRA session where significant profits are still possible, needs the town to prosper as much as the town needs the NYRA tax monies and tourism that horse racing generates.

Hotel reservations and home rentals, understandably slow at this juncture, might have dried up completely had the latest fiscal impasse lasted any longer. With the Monmouth summer meet set to begin Saturday with daily purses averaging a million dollars, the battle for quality horseflesh already is being waged.

Well healed horseplayers could opt for a shore thing instead of their favorite mountain racing retreat. With its three-day weekend schedule, Monmouth Park becomes a very attractive destination option.

Paterson’s fix, announced at a Tuesday press conference, is a temporary patch. The oft-started and stopped search for a VLT operator is now being conducted by the State Lottery via gubernatorial decree. Former Gov. George Pataki tried that tack five years ago, but that political football wound up getting kicked wide right.

Based on projected handle from the Aqueduct racino, $3.65 billion would have been wagered since enabling legislation was enacted. With 90 percent returned to winning players, that’s a $365-million shortfall to the state and the NYRA. That excludes $90 million the state already gets in franchise fees and taxes from on- and off-track interests annually.

From the very beginning, all anyone needed to do were their jobs in the public interest. But, per usual in the Empire State, if a proposal doesn’t fly politically, it remains grounded until a situation becomes dire. And then, even when they fix it, it’s never completely right. Stay tuned.