Magna was one of six applicants submitting proposals for slots licenses last week. But the company's submission and another for slots at the state-owned Rocky Gap resort in Allegany County did not include required fees, and may not be valid. Officials say that fewer than half of the 15,000 slot machines authorized by voters last year could be claimed, and the state initially could collect far less than the $600 million yearly in slots proceeds it has been counting on.
When Magna bought a controlling interest in Laurel Park and Baltimore's Pimlico in 2002, it entered a long-running debate in Maryland over whether to allow slot machines in the state. The company quickly jockeyed to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of slots proposals that were being debated in the General Assembly.
Magna and its affiliates spent more than $4 million on lobbying expenses, and the Maryland Jockey Club, a subsidiary, has one of the top lobbying firms in Annapolis on retainer.
When the legislature decided to put the question of legalization to voters last fall, Magna spent another $2 million to back the campaign for passage. The referendum was approved by a wide margin.
The company appeared to be well-positioned to win a slots license in Anne Arundel County, one of five potential slots locations in the state.
But just two weeks ago, Magna officials told representatives of the horse industry in a private briefing that they did not yet have an operating partner, though they were confident they would get one, said Alan Foreman, a lawyer for the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association who attended the presentation.
That wasn't the only detail left to the last moment.
According to people familiar with the situation, Magna continued to negotiate to the 11th hour with DeFrancis, a contentious figure in Annapolis who secured a hefty cut of any eventual proceeds when he sold his stake in the Maryland Jockey Club, owner of Pimlico and Laurel.
DeFrancis hails from a storied family in the horse racing industry and has been a major player in Annapolis on the slots issue. As the debate was heating up in 2002 and 2003, he contributed $225,000 to a national group, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, controlled by Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, an aggressive slots proponent.
