Hubbard Loses Out in His Bid to Buy Pimlico, Laurel Tracks : Hollywood Park: Jack Kent Cooke buys 100 acres in Maryland to build a new stadium for the NFL’s Redskins.

Hollywood Park’s bid to buy Pimlico and Laurel racetracks in Maryland fell apart Thursday, with the tracks’ principal shareholder retaining control and completing a sale of 100 acres on the Laurel site to Jack Kent Cooke, owner of the Washington Redskins.

Cooke said that he will use the property to build a 78,600-seat stadium, which is expected to be ready for the Redskins’ 1996 season.

Joe De Francis, who has been running Pimlico and Laurel since the death of his father in 1989, announced the deal with Cooke and also said that he will make today’s deadline for paying off his estranged partners, Bob and Tommy Manfuso. Under a condition in his contract with the Manfuso brothers, De Francis is required to pay them $8.2 million by today to keep the tracks.

Cooke would not say what he paid for the Laurel property, but sources familiar with the transaction said that the price was in the $8-million range. Laurel Race Course is located halfway between Baltimore and Washington, about 20 miles from RFK Stadium, where the Redskins now play.

Cooke estimated that his discussions with De Francis about the Laurel property began about seven weeks ago.

While De Francis went about his 11th-hour wheeling and dealing, representatives of R.D. Hubbard, the chairman of Hollywood Park, left Baltimore empty-handed. It was reported last week that Hollywood Park had offered $15 million for an 80% interest in Pimlico and Laurel and would have assumed the tracks’ debt, estimated at $40 million.

De Francis, 38, said Thursday that his sister, Karin Van Dyke, played a significant role in the family’s decision to keep the tracks.

“Karin was the deciding factor,” De Francis said. “She didn’t want to sell and was dealing with the possibility of selling from a personal level. She didn’t want to be forced out. She has quite an attachment to these tracks. She believes in their future and wants to remain a part of it.”

Had De Francis sold to Hollywood Park, he would have remained president of the track, but would have had less control and his annual salary reportedly was going to be slashed more than 70%, to $200,000.

Hubbard was out of the country Thursday and couldn’t be reached for comment.

Horse Racing Notes

Meafara, the 5-year-old filly who missed by two necks of winning the last two runnings of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, has been retired because of knee and ankle problems, trainer Gary Jones said Thursday at Santa Anita. In her last race, Meafara won the Underwood Stakes at Hollywood Park on Dec. 11. Her record was 10 victories in 17 starts and earnings of $838,594.

Another Jones trainee, Best Pal, drew the rail for Saturday’s $150,000 San Pasqual Handicap at Santa Anita. The rest of the lineup, starting with the No. 2 post, is Ibero, Manny’s Prospect, Johann Quatz, Star Recruit, Lottery Winner and Hill Pass. . . . In the $75,000 Santa Catalina Stakes, also Saturday, Duca drew the inside in a five-horse field. The others are Heavenly Crusade, Dream Trapp, Gracious Host and Wekiva Springs. . . . Tabasco Cat, third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, will face Robannier, Flying Sensation and five other 3-year-old rivals Saturday in the $200,000 El Camino Real Derby at Bay Meadows.