Santa Anita Park’s owner gets OK to sell racetrack

Magna Entertainment Corp., owner of Santa Anita Park, got the go-ahead from a bankruptcy judge Monday to sell the famous horse-racing venue in Arcadia.

The decision by a federal judge in Delaware supports Magna’s previously announced plans to sell some of its racetracks and other assets to pay down debt.

Canada-based Magna filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March after defaulting on conditions of a bank loan. Santa Anita is in its off-season, but racing will begin again in October, said Ron Charles, president of the track and an officer of Magna.

“It will be business as usual for us here,” Charles said. “We don’t anticipate any changes to our race meetings, including the Breeders’ Cup in November.”

Charles said he had met with some potential buyers and expected to meet more in the months ahead. He declined to identify them.

The historic track is restricted to horse-racing uses and is likely to stay that way, said Jason Kruckeberg, development services director for the city of Arcadia.

“It would be quite a community process to change that designation,” Kruckeberg said.

The southern 85 acres of the 300-acre track property are zoned for commercial development and are tied up by Los Angeles developer Rick Caruso. He plans to build a large-scale retail center on the site.

Monday’s court decision says potential buyers for Santa Anita and other Magna tracks must declare their interest by May 27 and submit bids by July 31.

New owners would be selected through an auction in New York on Sept. 8. The other Magna racetracks approved for sale are Remington Park in Oklahoma, Thistledown in Ohio and Portland Meadows in Oregon, along with Magna’s interest in Lone Star Park in Texas.

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roger.vincent@latimes.com