THE state government is desperately working to broker a historic deal with the iconic Sydney Opera House to project a major light show on its sails for an international promotion of The Everest.

The light show, pitched to run for an hour on Tuesday night, has been designed alongside the company behind the renowned Vivid festival and would coincide with the barrier draw for the world’s richest turf race.

However, the plan was still at risk of falling at the final hurdle last night amid painstaking negotiations, with Opera House management resisting the idea of using the world-famous sails to promote racing, despite government officials proposed the concept to Racing NSW.

“The Opera House belongs to the taxpayers of NSW and not just to a minority of elites — it should be used to showcase Sydney so the taxpayers of NSW get a return on this magnificent asset,” Racing NSW boss and NRL commissioner Peter V’landys said.

It’s understood Sports Minister Stuart Ayres has played peacemaker in a bid to bring all parties to the table.

It comes after government bureaucrats rejected Mr V’Landys’s initial pitch to host the barrier draw on the side of Sydney Harbour Bridge without disrupting traffic.

It’s understood the government proposed using the Opera House to Racing NSW as an olive branch after the Harbour Bridge dispute.

“We have two of the greatest landmarks anywhere in the world — why wouldn’t we use them to promote Sydney internationally?” Mr V’Landys said last night.

“We love Sydney. This is about taking Sydney to the world and bringing people to Sydney.”

Under the proposed Opera House plan, the names and colours of the 12 horses racing would be projected onto the sails, one at a time to coincide with the barrier draw, for a total period of five minutes.

For the next 55 minutes, each of the horses’ colours would be displayed on the building.

As part of the tense negotiations yesterday, Racing NSW agreed to remove The Everest logo from the images to be used and instead replace it with a trophy.

Mr V’Landys praised Mr Ayres for trying to assist with a solution but hit out at the pen pushers who were making life difficult.

“We were very appreciative of the leadership showed by Stuart Ayres in promoting Sydney and at least he has seen first-hand the bureaucracy that is encountered in trying to promote Sydney,” he said.

It was not clear last night whether the Opera House would agree to the plan.

Last month, Mr V’Landys fired a salvo at the government, declaring red tape was letting Sydney down and cruelling its ability to promote itself on the international stage.

The respected businessman said Melbourne was furlongs ahead when it came to promoting its major sporting events, such as the Melbourne Cup and Australian Open.

And the comments hit home for the government, which is intent on promoting tourism.

The Opera House plan hatched by Racing NSW and the government would see imagery from the light show recorded and used in promotional material all around the world.

Louise Herron, chief executive of the Opera House, did not respond to calls last night.

The Everest — which last year injected $100 million into the NSW economy — is already delivering a tourism boom to Sydney, with hotels reporting they are already at 95 per cent capacity for the weekend of the race on October 13.