The New York Racing Association can continue to operate without facing viability concerns or deep cuts to its operations and purses through at least the first half of 2021 under current conditions, top officials for the association told a state oversight board Tuesday. The projections were made separately by David O’Rourke, NYRA’s chief executive, and Renee Postel, NYRA’s chief financial officer, in response to questions from Robert Williams, executive director of the New York Racing Association Franchise Oversight Board, which monitors the association’s financial operations. Postel told Williams that NYRA could operate “cash-positive” until the end of 2021 under existing conditions, which means holding spectator-free racing without the benefit of purse and operating subsidies from a casino next to Aqueduct that is currently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. O’Rourke said that the association was “confident” in its current position for the first six months of 2021, saying the association would be “liquid” until that date. The operating ability of NYRA has become a matter of discussion in the last several weeks due to the importance of the subsidies from the casino, which provides approximately one-third of the money for NYRA’s purse account in a typical year. The casino also provides money for NYRA’s capital expenditures account, along with a portion of its operating funds. Unlike in many other states, casinos located outside of Native American reservations remain closed in New York. The state announced Monday that gyms could open next week, at a limited capacity, joining restaurants and bars. The cash position of NYRA is being bolstered this year by an estimated $13 million payment from the association’s insurance company under a policy that covers event cancellations. Following the meeting with the oversight board, O’Rourke said that the payments cover lost revenues from the Belmont Stakes and four Saturdays at Saratoga, which were covered under a policy guaranteeing certain revenues for NYRA’s top-five live racing events. Postel noted to the oversight board that the event cancellation policy expires at the end of this year, and that the association does not anticipate being able to renew any policy that would allow for disruption payments due to the coronavirus pandemic. Most insurance carriers began excluding disease-related events from insurance policies after the 2014 Ebola scare. O’Rourke said after the oversight meeting that projections about NYRA’s operating capacity are “extremely difficult to make” given the shifting sands of the pandemic and the response of governments to the outbreak. He said NYRA is only comfortable making firm projections through the beginning of December of this year, given the likelihood that many of the parameters affecting the association could change dramatically over the next several months. He also said that unanticipated events requiring large capital outlays could alter the projections considerably. O’Rourke also told oversight board members that the association has reached an agreement with horsemen to reduce days at the upcoming fall meets at Belmont on Long Island and Aqueduct in Queens in order to preserve average purse levels. “We’re reducing days trying to keep the continuity of the program and keep the purse account healthy,” O’Rourke said. “Once we get through that . . . we’ll figure out what we’ll do for the Aqueduct winter. It’s just too early for us to lay out what that schedule will look like. Hopefully, it’s normal. I’m still looking for the definition of normal.” – additional reporting by David Grening