Saratoga Springs woman named to NYRA board

Georgeanne “Georgie” Nugent Lussier of Saratoga Springs, an environmental consulting engineer who is also a thoroughbred owner and a self-described passionate horse-racing fan, has been named to the board of directors of the New York Racing Association.

Lussier’s appointment, first reported by The Daily Racing Form and confirmed Thursday by NYRA, will give Saratoga Springs its first permanent representation on the NYRA board since the resignation earlier this year of Charles V. Wait, who had served on the board for 30 years. (John Hendrickson, the husband of socialite Marylou Whitney, is a part-time city resident who serves as a special adviser to the board but is not a board member.) She will also be the only woman serving on the 16-member board that oversees the three state-owned racetracks in New York, including Saratoga Race Course.

Lussier was traveling and not available for comment Thursday.

The appointment was made by Democrat Carl Heastie, D-Bronx, the speaker of the state Assembly, whose chamber controls two seats on the board. Lussier will replace former board member Rick Cotton, who was also an Assembly appointee.

Wait, the chairman of Adirondack Trust Company, resigned in April. He didn’t publicly comment on his departure, but there was speculation that it was tied to unhappiness with the Cuomo administration’s decision to extend state oversight of NYRA, which is a private nonprofit organization, for an additional year through 2016.

NYRA oversees operations of Saratoga Race Course, Belmont and Aqueduct. The organization is currently considering spending more than $100 million on new facilities and modernizations at the Saratoga track, and some people are questioning whether it can maintain its historic feel as improvements are made.

Lussier, 39, a 1998 graduate of SUNY Plattsburgh, is a partner in Epona Racing Stable of Saratoga Springs, which owns horses handled by trainer Bruce Brown.

She also holds a master’s degree in environmental science and engineering from the Colorado School of Mines and is a senior project manager at Foit-Albert Associates Architecture, Engineering and Surveying in Albany.

Lussier is also a Saratoga County representative on the board of the Capital District Transportation Authority, having served on that board since 2009.

She is currently vice president of the CDTA board.

She is married to Brian Lussier and lives not far from the racetrack with their three children.