Late Night Post

- Rockport Harbor and his blacksmith; High Fly and Roman Ruler possible for the Gotham at Aqueduct; Frankel laying in wait with scary High Limit, will look for a graded stakes spot with an eye on earnings to qualify for the Derby; Privman on Derby doings. [Daily Racing Form]

- Magna reports its earnings, and it’s not good; red ink and debt. The delayed Laurel opening and a dismal year at Santa Anita were cited as big factors.

McAlpine said that Magna will concentrate on cutting costs in 2005, a contention that was criticized by several analysts on the conference call who complained that Magna officials have made similar promises in the past only to see results at the company worsen.
....
Magna officials conceded that the company is in a tight position, considering the negative cash flow and the inability of the company to take on more debt.

"There's minimal debt capacity right now," said Blake Tohana, the chief financial officer of the company.[Racing Form]

But spirits were high in at least one Magna stock chat room, as slots legislation has finally made it through a Maryland House panel and moves on to the finish line in the full House, and approval in Florida seems imminent. However, the legislation passed by the Maryland panel differs from what passed the Senate in that the latter approved slots at four racetrack locations, while the House panel approved slots only for Laurel, though racetracks would still get a piece of the action.