Magna Entertainment Corp., the parent company of Laurel Park race track, is moving forward with its auction of the track without a lead bid in place.

Despite interest from "several groups," an attorney representing Magna Entertainment Corp. in the auction said the company wasn't "willing to accept" any of the bids as the "stalking horse" bid of the proceedings.

"The stalking horse bid is supposed to set the baseline in the auction," said Michael Wildish, managing director for Miller Buckfire -- the New York-based firm representing Magna. "It's there to say, 'If nothing else, at least this deal is in hand.' But we weren't willing to accept any of the initial bids as that baseline."

Wildish said that there is no requirement to have a "stalking horse" in the proceedings, so the company decided to proceed to the next round of bidding in December, when officials hope a better bid will emerge.

MEC filed for bankruptcy in March, less than a month after having its bid for slot machines at Laurel Park thrown out by the state. As part of its bankruptcy proceedings, MEC decided to sell at auction a number of its national assets, including all of its Maryland Jockey Club assets -- Laurel Park, Pimlico and the Bowie Training Center.

Wildish said that he could not confirm how many groups had expressed interest in bidding on the Maryland Jockey Club assets, but said it was "more than two." He said that while several "were willing to play the role of stalking horse, they didn't produce a bid we felt was deserving of the stalking horse bid."

He added that he and MEC expect a number of additional groups to come forward with bids on Dec. 11, when the next round of bidding is held.

The original deadline for the second round of bids was Dec. 4, but MEC pushed back the deadline.

While state law and auction rules dictate that Pimlico must be kept open to host the annual Preakness Stakes, there is no such guarantee for Laurel Park. At least two groups -- including the company seeking slots at Arundel Mills -- have expressed interest in buying the track and keeping it open for racing, but some residents near the track remain worried that the track will be bought and developed into residential housing.

Arundel Mills bid nears approval

While the future of Laurel Park remains up in the air, Arundel Mills appears closer than ever to being awarded the licenses that were assumed to be destined for Laurel Park just a year ago.

The state commission tasked with approving licenses to operate slot machines in the state indicated that it is prepared to award to Cordish Companies the nearly 5,000 licenses it applied for to run a casino at Arundel Mills.

Video Lottery Terminal Location Commission Chairman Donald Fry tabled a motion to approve the licenses at the commission's meeting Nov. 12 because two of seven commission members were absent. But he said a vote would be scheduled soon.

Developers associated with the proposed Arundel Mills casino appear to be confident of the approval. Power Plant Entertainment Casino Resorts Maryland LLC announced that it will hold a job fair Nov. 19 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for construction, vending and career jobs at the casino.

The Arundel Mills location also awaits zoning approval by the Anne Arundel County Council, which has delayed dealing with the issue several times since January. It is currently scheduled to consider a number of bills dealing with slots in the county early next month.

If approved, Arundel Mills would become home to Maryland Live!, which would be the largest slots parlor in the state with 4,750 machines. It would be located just outside the mall's food court.

Residents near the mall were disappointed by the announcement, but remain hopeful that the county council will reject zoning for the parlor at Arundel Mills.

Stop Slots at Arundel Mills released a statement saying, “We are saddened that in endorsing slots at Arundel Mills, members of the State Video Lottery Location Facility Commission appear to be ignoring evidence of the detrimental impacts of a casino at Arundel Mills, including the actual number of residents currently living in close proximity to the mall. We continue to have faith in the judgment of the Anne Arundel County Council. We believe they will protect the communities surrounding Arundel Mills, and the economy of the region, by not granting zoning permission to enrich wealthy developers at the expense of the working class residents surrounding Arundel Mills.”

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user comments (1)

user rannicel says...

If you are a resident of Anne Arundel County you should not want either bill which allow slots zoning to pass. Neither bill gives residents the 1/4 mile protection given to the Citizen's of Baltimore City. Neither bill allows for public input in the zoning permit approval process for a site. When another referendum to allow additional games and addtional licenses does pass (its only a question of when) any area in Anne Arundel County could be at risk.

Posted 2:37 PM, 11.22.09 | Permalink