Trump's Army secretary pick buys home in Saratoga Springs

PHOTOGRAPHER: Submitted

704 North Broadway in Saratoga Springs.

Vincent Viola — a prolific thoroughbred racer recently nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as secretary of the army — has bought a house in Saratoga Springs.

Viola purchased a two-story home at 704 North Broadway for $2.5 million from Albany businessman and Saratoga Performing Arts Center board member Ed Swyer, according to a deed filed with the Saratoga County Clerk’s Office.

Vincent Viola, a billionaire businessman, arrives for a meeting at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York on Dec. 16, 2016. (Kevin Hagen/The New York Times)

The single-family, 4,560-square-foot home was built in 1880 and has four bedrooms and four baths, according to a listing on zillow.com. It’s located between 1st and 2nd streets on Broadway’s east side.

The purchase follows a strong racing season for Viola, who races thoroughbreds under the stable name St. Elias Stable and swept the three graded stakes races for 2-year-old fillies at the 2016 Saratoga Race Course meet. Sweet Loretta won the Schuylerville on opening day and the Spinaway in a dead heat on closing day, and Viola’s Nonna Mela won the Adirondack.

In partnership with Repole Stable, Viola also co-owns Win With Pride, who is on the current qualifying leaderboard for the Kentucky Derby.

His wife, Teresa, owned Liam’s Map, who won the Woodward at Saratoga and the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky, in 2015.

Thomas Gallo, who owns Parting Glass Racing in Saratoga Springs, declined to comment on Viola’s purchase of a home in the city but said his appointment to Trump’s administration gives horse racing “some notoriety.”

“I think it’s very positive,” he said. “The guy’s had great success in the horsing industry.”

A retired Army major and graduate of West Point, Viola is the former chairman of the New York Mercantile Exchange and founder of the high-frequency trading firm Virtu Financial. He also owns an NHL team, the Florida Panthers.

His net worth of $1.8 billion makes him one of the 400 wealthiest Americans, according to Forbes.

Following the attacks of Sept. 11, Viola helped start the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, a research facility.