SARATOGA SPRINGS — The New York Racing Association has hired another leader from the Saratoga Convention and Tourism Bureau to beef up NYRA’s fan experience, President Charles Hayward said Thursday.

Molly Brindle, senior sales manager at the Saratoga Convention and Tourism Bureau, will be in charge of securing sponsorships for the state’s three thoroughbred tracks.

One of the new sponsorships in the works this year is a deal with private aviation company NetJets, Hayward said.

Brindle is the second person in the past year from the tourism bureau to join NYRA; the association hired Gavin Landry in July as its senior vice president of sales and market development.

A few changes are planned for Saratoga Race Course this summer, Hayward told more than 60 people at the Parting Glass pub on Thursday evening for Parting Glass Racing’s monthly meeting.

Racing fans who stop by the At the Rail Pavilion this summer will get an air-conditioned dining experience in a leased enclosed tent, Hayward said.

A new hospitality area also is planned for the top of the stretch, and so are improvements in the women’s bathrooms in the clubhouse.

In other racing news, Hayward said state leaders hope to award the bid for the video lottery terminal franchise at Aqueduct before the state Legislature leaves town in the third week of June. If that happens, 4,500 VLTs would be installed at Aqueduct in about 18 months and the estimated $30 million more toward purses should start rolling in by 2010.

With VLTs, NYRA expects to award $150 million in purses instead of the $117 million it gives away now, Hayward said.

The state is seriously considering all three VLT bidders, Hayward said. NYRA worked closely with Delaware North and SL Green Realty Corp. as they put together their bids, but not Capital Play, which was NYRA’s competitor in the first franchise process and partnered with Mohegan Sun for the VLT component.

Hayward said he is confident that Delaware North, which also runs the machines at Saratoga Gaming and Raceway, would do a good job at Aqueduct.

And real estate giant SL Green has bigger plans for Aqueduct. “They had a different view about how to build up the facility,” he said.

Although VLTs aren’t planned for Belmont Park now, Hayward expects them to be added in the future.

“I think that kind of money is going to be difficult for them to resist down the road,” he said of state leaders, adding that he believes the machines could be installed without compromising the racing experience.

He plans to use NYRA’s operating subsidy from Aqueduct VLTs to make capital improvements at the tracks.

“We could probably spend $50 million at Saratoga alone,” he said.

But Hayward doesn’t believe the VLT money will still be allocated for racing in another decade: “I think both the operating subsidies and the purses could be at risk.”

Thursday’s visit to the Parting Glass Racing meeting was Hayward’s third. The racing partnership holds book signing events and handicapping seminars and invites guest speakers to address its members and the general public.

“We’re trying to keep racing alive in the off-season,” said managing member Thomas Gallo. “When Saratoga closes, I’d say about 95 percent of the people forget about horse racing.”

But not the Parting Glass Racing members, who even in the winter still attend about 40 or 50 strong, Gallo said: “If they’re fans, they come out of the woodwork to see people.”

The racing partnership’s more than 200 members own 12 horses in training, Gallo said.