For the first time in a decade, Jackson Knowlton won’t be buying any New York-bred horses at the state’s premier thoroughbred auctions in Saratoga Springs.

Knowlton, operating manager of Sackatoga Stable LLC, spent $230,000 to purchase three yearlings at the sales last summer. But the weak economy and uncertainty surrounding the future of thoroughbred racing in New York has prevented Sackatoga from finding enough investors to help cover expenses.

“There just isn’t the level of commitment out there to support buying more horses,” Knowlton said. “It’s part and parcel to the general economic situation. People have lost jobs, and it’s hard to have a lot of confidence that the sport is going in the right direction.”

At a time when the racing industry has been squeezed by shrinking purses and a dwindling number of breeders and owners, the New York Racing Association and the Fasig-Tipton horse-sales company are working harder than ever to ensure their summer events are a success.

Fasig-Tipton, which conducts horse sales in Saratoga Springs, New York, along with Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, and Texas, is spending more time and money marketing its Saratoga yearling sales to potential buyers at tracks around the country.

The company, which was acquired by Dubai food trader Abdulla Al Habbai and his Synergy U.S. Investments Inc. in 2008, also scheduled its Saratoga Selected Yearling sale a week earlier than normal on August 2 and 3 to eliminate a conflict with a European horse sale.

“We are trying to be more innovative to create interest and get as much depth as we can,” said Boyd Browning Jr., president of Fasig-Tipton.

Under the new ownership, the horse-sales company has spent more than $10 million to buy and improve its Saratoga Springs auction grounds, including recent upgrades to the sales pavilion.

“The Saratoga sale is not only a big revenue generator, it’s our premier sale, and it’s an important part of the fabric of Fasig-Tipton,” Browning said.

The success of the horse sales also is more important than ever for the cash-strapped New York Racing Association, which begins its 40-day summer thoroughbred racing meet today.

Fasig-Tipton’s national and international marketing efforts have had a big impact on drawing more attention to the Saratoga meet, said NYRA president Charlie Hayward.

“In the past, we didn’t work together enough,” Hayward said.

This year will be the second time that NYRA and Fasig-Tipton will team up to promote the auction by holding a Festival of Racing at the track on the weekend before the Saratoga Selected Yearling sales.

It’s an effort to generate buyer interest when the amount of money spent at North American horse sales has declined 45 percent in four years to just under $317 million.

Total sales at Fasig-Tipton’s Saratoga Selected sale fell 14 percent, to $36 million, from 2006 to 2008 before climbing to $52.5 million last summer. The growth last summer was attributed to international buyers, including nearly $12 million spent by John Ferguson, a buyer for Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, a close associate of Fasig-Tipton’s new owner.