The owner of Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course is under the gun.

Canadian-based Magna Entertainment Corp. has a $40 million line of credit due to a Canadian bank today and another $180 million due to its parent company at the end of next month.

On May 23, Magna received a third reprieve on repayment of both loans as it attempted to sell some of its holdings and racetracks to stay in business. The company last year said it hoped to pay down $450 million in debt by the end of the year.

It’s a lofty goal, but industry watchers said Magna might pull it off.

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“I’m no longer one of those people who would bet against them doing it again,” said Tim Capps, executive in residence at the University of Louisville and a former vice president with the Maryland Jockey Club, which operates Laurel and Pimlico for Magna.

Magna lost $46 million in the first quarter, and $114 million last year, according to company reports. Pimlico’s 2007 net income rose to $1.83 million, up from $1.35 million the year before, according to the Maryland Racing Commission, while Laurel Park’s losses deepened last year to $4.3 million from $3.6 million lost in 2006.

Magna planned to raise as much as $700 million from the sale of assets and partnerships, but has been slowed by a tough U.S. real estate market and the company’s own apparent weakness.

acahall@baltimoreexaminer.com