ALBANY-The one-horse race for a contract to develop a racino at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens has ended with the state lottery’s pick for the job, Genting New York LLC, getting the key approvals it needed. A spokeswoman for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver told GlobeSt.com Thursday afternoon that Silver expected to put his signature on the memorandum of understanding for the contract later that day. John Sampson, the Senate Majority Conference Leader, announced his endorsement of Genting on Tuesday, and Gov. David Paterson had signaled his support shortly after the Lottery Division sent him a letter recommending Genting.

“Nothing is more important than creating jobs,” Sampson said in a statement issued Tuesday. The acceptance of Genting puts New York on the fast track to rebuild our local and state economy through sound economic development and immediate and long-term job creation.” GlobeSt.com’s calls Thursday to the governor’s office and the lottery were not returned by deadline. Following signing of the MOU by the three political leaders, the final steps before awarding a contract would be approvals by the state attorney general’s office and controller Thomas DiNapoli.

The assignment of the Aqueduct contract to Genting would mark the third such award in less than two years. Delaware North withdrew as developer of the 328,000-square-foot video lottery facility in early 2009, citing difficulty with coming up with the required upfront licensing fee. A consortium known as Aqueduct Entertainment Group was awarded the assignment earlier this year, only to lose it amid controversy over the selection process.

In its application, Malaysia-based Genting offered an upfront licensing fee of $380 million, exceeding the $300-million payment required by the RFP, according to the Lottery’s report to Paterson. “Genting and its related entities are qualified to receive Video Lottery licenses and have the financial wherewithal to meet the financial obligations of the project,” the report states. “Genting received a score of 95 out of 100 in our technical and financial evaluation.”

The gaming company, which says it can start work on the racino project six months after it’s awarded the contract, is proposing a phased development process that will begin with 1,600 video lottery terminals. A second phase, which would open six months later, will bring the facility up to the full complement of 4,525 VLTs and would also include a 2,100-space parking garage and a new pedestrian bridge to the Aqueduct subway station, followed by a final phase with completion of abatement activities and construction of a front canopy.

For Genting, which began with a 30-table hilltop casino in Malaysia 40 years ago, the Aqueduct racino would be its first US development project. In a June interview with Bloomberg, Justin Leong, head of strategic investments and corporate affairs at parent company Genting Bhd., said his company was “aggressively searching for opportunities to invest in the US casino gaming market. Our strategy is building a US presence.”

To that end, Genting made its first investment in US gaming last year by acquiring MGM Mirage bonds. It’s armed with $1.7 billion in cash and has no debt, according to Bloomberg.