The creme de la creme of New York racing will go coastal on network TV late this summer and fall in a deal announced yesterday by NBC, the Breeders’ Cup and the New York Racing Association.

The “NBC Road to the Breeders’ Cup” will feature 11 Grade 1 stakes from Saratoga and Belmont Park from September through mid-October as a prelude to the 16th running of the Breeders’ Cup Nov. 6 at Gulfstream Park.

The agreement, brokered by the Breeders’ Cup’s long-time marketing arm, Sport Marketing & Television International, calls for the Breeders’ Cup to underwrite the telecasts of four one-hour shows and the 1-hour “Breeders’ Cup Preview” Oct. 10 to the tune of more than $1 million. Advertising will be sold to help augment the cost. SMTI will produce the shows in conjunction with NBC.

“Seventeen years ago, we went to Saratoga to meet with John Gaines [founder of the Breeders’ Cup] to discuss it,” said Kenneth Schanzer, president of NBC Sports. “We thought it was the most exciting premier event in our lifetime in sports.

“We thought the best way to do the event was in one day versus a more prolonged period to time, which has worked out well. But now we’ll be able to extend it from one day in November back through September forward and build the series to fruition on Breeders’ Cup Day.”

The first telecast on Saturday, Sept. 4 from Saratoga (2:30-3:30 p.m.), features the Hopeful and Spinaway stakes. The other races, all from Belmont, are the Man o’ War and Gazelle Saturday Sept. 11 (5-6 p.m.); the Woodward (one-day delay), Matron and Futurity Sunday, Sept. 19 (3-4 p.m.); the Flower Bowl on Sunday, Oct. 3 (3-4 p.m.); and the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Beldame and Frizette on Breeders’ Cup Preview day, Sunday, Oct. 10 (2:30-4 p.m.).