His main challengers will include road race specialists John McGuinness and Ian Hutchinson, Dennis Hobbs, Steve Brogan and Hudson Kennaugh, with Castlerock's Marty Nutt and Omagh's BJ Toal also in the field.
Veteran Republican Assemblyman Marc Butler of Central New York accused Cuomo of issuing the bill "by fiat, " while second-term Assemblyman Steve Katz of the Hudson Valley said the Legislature was "bullied" by a governor obsessed with his own political career.
They still had enough wit about them to break through four times, tries from centre Michael Shenton, Owen, stand-off Steve Snitch and hooker Ryan Hudson making the final scoreline respectable.