Joseph De Francis, former owner of Laurel Park, and Baltimore development firm the Cordish Cos., which was granted a slots license Dec. 7 for a site at Arundel Mills mall but is awaiting zoning approval, are two of six bidders vying to buy Laurel Park, Pimlico Race Course, the Preakness and a Bowie training center, assets of the bankrupt Magna Entertainment Corp. Magna is set to auction these assets in January, according to Michael Waldish, an investment banker of the New York firm Miller Buckfire & Co., which is brokering the deal.

Waldish said De Francis and Cordish Cos. entered their bids Dec. 11. Waldish declined to name the other bidders in the project.

"We received a total of six. Others have asked us to keep their interests confidential at this point," Waldish said.

The next step is for Miller Buckfire to offer the sale to the state of Maryland to receive an offer of first refusal and then to take the company to auction Jan. 8, Waldish said.

He added that Miller Buckfire may enter into a tentative agreement with one of the six involved prior to the date of the auction that could be reneged if a better deal were found at the auction, he said.

"We may enter into a stalking horse agreement with one of these guys," Waldish said.

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