Metro

A ‘dark’ horse at Aqueduct

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All bets are off.

A backhoe ripped through a cable that feeds the tote system at Aqueduct Raceway yesterday, shutting down television, Internet service, gambling and simulcast operations at the track and Belmont Park, officials said.

The New York Racing Association, which operates the racetrack, suspended racing and all simulcasting. Customers were turned away after a construction crew that was digging a trench along Rockaway Boulevard to lay power lines accidentally cut the crucial cable that feeds the machines that compute all of the track’s gambling.

A NYRA spokesman said repairs could be completed sometime today.

The construction mishap also forced the closure of the Belmont Café and NYRA Rewards, the Internet- and phone-betting system.

Sources said the accident cost Aqueduct about $250,000 in gambling revenue.

The crew was working on the much-anticipated Aqueduct casino, which is slated to open in late summer with 4,500 slot machines. Another source said the excavation subcontractor, Ruttura & Sons, was on the job for its first day when the accident happened shortly before 12:30 p.m.

Before the outage, NYRA announced the stakes-race schedules for the Belmont Park spring/summer meet and the Saratoga Race Course summer meet. The highlight, of course, will be the 1½-mile Belmont States, the final leg of the Triple Crown, which will be held June 11.

Much of Aqueduct’s old grandstand lies in rubble on the track apron, part of the preparation for Genting’s Resorts World New York VLT casino. Last month, approximately 350 horses stabled at Aqueduct were moved to Belmont Park, and training at the Big A will be closed until April 4.

NYRA will close the Aqueduct backstretch for about six weeks to help speed up construction.

World Resorts Genting, a Malaysian firm, paid the state $380 million for the right to construct the $1.3 billion casino project.

The project is expected to bring more than 2,000 jobs to the area — including 1,300 in construction and another 800 full-time gigs once the racino is up and running.

More than two-thirds of the profits generated from the racino will go in the state’s coffers, mostly to education funding.

New construction will include a skywalk connecting the racino to Aqueduct’s A-train subway station.

Additional reporting by Ed Fountaine

leonard.greene@nypost.com