Mike Brunker Horse racing editor • Profile • E-mail

BALTIMORE - As horse racing prepares for Saturday’s 134th running of the Preakness Stakes, a cloud of uncertainty hangs over historic Pimlico racetrack and some of the sport’s other major showcases.

The reason: Magna Entertainment Corp., which owns Pimlico and nine other U.S. racetracks, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is trying to pay down approximately $735 million in debt by selling some of the crown jewels of its racing empire.  That has stoked fears that some of the sport’s most revered racetracks could eventually face the wrecking ball, scooped up by developers who covet the prime real estate on which they stand.

At this dark hour, a potential white knight has ridden into town, saying he can save the tracks. Not only that, he says he has fresh ideas that will enable horse racing to prosper again, reversing a decades-long downward spiral that has many pundits predicting the sport’s demise.

Meet Halsey Minor, a controversial high-tech entrepreneur, venture capitalist and now aspiring savior of the sport of kings. The boyish-looking 44-year-old, who founded the tech Web site CNET.com in 1993, says he has the wherewithal to pull off what many observers consider to be a longer shot than Mine That Bird’s Kentucky Derby victory at 50-1.

To do that, he will have to persuade Magna Entertainment’s debt holders and the bankruptcy court that his plan to pay down the company’s debt and then invest in the aging sports palaces will provide the greatest possible return to all parties. He also will have to get the court to cancel an auction planned for Sept. 8 to sell two of the company’s premier racetracks — Santa Anita Park in Southern California and Lone Star Park in Texas — as well as three smaller tracks that it has previously been unable to sell.

But despite the seemingly long odds, Minor said he likes his chances.

“I think I have a reasonable shot,” Minor told msnbc.com in an hour-long phone interview on Thursday.  “… I feel like in this case, I have truth and justice on my side.”

Video   Pimlico not on auction block - yet May 5: The U.S Bankruptcy judge in Delaware ruled that Magna Entertainment can take its Maryland assets, including Pimlico home of the Preakness, off the auction block; however, they can't sell them without the state's input. WBAL's David Collins reports. MSNBC

Ontario-based Magna Entertainment, founded by auto-parts magnate and thoroughbred breeder Frank Stronach, filed for bankruptcy protection in March, citing losses of more than $800 million since 2003. It initially indicated it would auction all of its properties and other assets in two auctions, including one in which its parent company and largest creditor, MI Developments, would be allowed to bid on the assets.  That plan was abandoned amid objections from MI Developments shareholders, who saw it as a maneuver by Stronach to retain control of the racetracks.

Magna Entertainment now says it believes the sale of Santa Anita and Lone Star would enable it to emerge from bankruptcy protection with a viable plan to operate its remaining U.S. racetracks – Golden Gate Fields in Northern California, Gulfstream Park in Florida, Laurel and Pimlico in Maryland and The Meadows harness track in Pennsylvania. But its bankruptcy adviser, Miller Buckfire, also indicated the company "will continue to explore all alternatives with respect to the remaining assets."

That has fueled fears that the cash-strapped company will sell some or all of the other racetracks to developers rather than those interested in continuing racing at the venues. It also prompted the  Maryland Legislature to pass an emergency measure in April that gives the state the right of eminent domain to purchase Pimlico, and to control rights to the Preakness -- the state’s signature race and the second jewel in horse racing’s most important series, the Triple Crown.

Enter Minor, a Virginia native who remembers being bitten by the racing bug when he watched  Secretariat’s Belmont Stakes victory in 1973. “I don’t know of a sporting event that I’ve seen since that was as thrilling as that,” he said.

He said his plan, which would pay off in full the $370 million that Magna Entertainment owes its parent company, MI Developments, and assume Magna Entertainment’s remaining debt, offers creditors a better chance of recouping their investments.

“I’m coming at the entire package,” Minor say of his bid to remake Magna Entertainment into  Minor Racing. “I think the auction is going to be a disaster.  … I think the current plan is not in the industry’s best interests, and not in the debt holders’ best interest. We’re going to see racetracks like Golden Gate Fields turned into shopping malls.”

Some racing industry leaders question whether Minor has the goods to back up his grand plan, noting that he also is reportedly under financial pressure.

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