Is It Too Much of a Good Thing? : Saratoga: Meeting for the New York track starts earlier than ever, but attendance hasn’t run to form.

Maybe the New York Racing Assn. could use a little horse sense.

Three years ago, riding Saratoga’s popularity all the way to the bank, the NYRA broke with tradition and expanded the thoroughbred racing meet from 24 days to 30. And the fans came in droves--more than 100,000 for the first time in its storied history--and bet an extra $11 million.

This year, after two more record-setting meets, another four days were tacked on, giving the venerable track its earliest starting date ever. The fans have come, but there’s been plenty of room to roam.

Almost 21,000 turned out for opening day last Friday, not far off last year’s record. But on Saturday only 15,237 showed up--the lowest Saturday figure in more than a decade. Track legend Fourstardave ran on Sunday and won here for the eighth straight year, and NYRA threw its biggest promotion ever--nine brand new cars were given away. But attendance was a disappointing 23,065.

On Monday, the bottom dropped out--9,659.

NYRA officials say they’re not wearing blinkers--they knew the turnout would be disappointing.

“These four days do not sell well,” NYRA President Gerard McKeon said. “It’s new, and the season ticket-holders had already committed to what they thought was a five-week season. We did not expect any kind of support from the people outside the area.

“We thought we would lose a good part of the downstate constituency for this part of the meet, and because of that it would be more enjoyable for the local people, who would have a crack at some of the amenities that are denied to them during the meet. We really didn’t know.”

That four-figure total Monday was the lowest in recent memory. NYRA media director Glen Mathes estimates the last time less than 10,000 showed up probably occurred during the 1970s.

Money is at the bottom of NYRA’s ever-expanding meet in Saratoga. NYRA needs it. The state Legislature didn’t include NYRA’s request for a $25 million package in the state budget, and the severe winter forced the cancellation of more than a dozen racing cards, costing the NYRA $13 million. McKeon expects the NYRA to finish the year $15 million in the red despite a nice profit here of more than $10 million.

“The temptation is always here to expand, expand, expand, because it’s so profitable,” McKeon said.

Each summer, NYRA shuts down its two New York City tracks, Belmont and Aqueduct, and moves its operations 175 miles to the north to Saratoga.

“How long can you present what makes Saratoga successful without ruining it?” McKeon asked.

“You go toward your success and try to squeeze as much out of it as you can,” he said. “I think that’s an error that will probably be made sometime in the future. I don’t know when that will happen. It hasn’t happened so far.

“There are limits in terms of dollars, in terms of enthusiasm, and in terms of stars to run. And we keep on pushing those limits to see if we can get away with it. This place has been here for 126 years, and I hope that another century goes by and people will be saying the same thing: When are you going to expand the meeting from three months to four?”