Shares in Magna Entertainment Corp., the struggling owner or operator of 10 U.S. racetracks, plunged again on Friday, one day after the company said that it had hired a firm specializing in bankruptcies as an advisor. The 87-cent drop on Friday wiped out gains the shares had made earlier in the week in advance of a Tuesday referendum authorizing slot machines at five Maryland locations, a vote that will eventually give Maryland's horsemen and racetracks – including Magna's Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course – more than $140 million annually in subsidies. The shares closed at $1.99 on Friday, down 30.4 percent. Magna released financial documents for the third quarter late on Wednesday night that showed the company has lost $116.1 million for the first nine months of this year. The company has $550 million in debt, $250 million of which was due this year but has not been repaid. Magna, which has not scheduled a conference call to discuss its third-quarter results, said in a release accompanying the financial documents that it has hired Miller Buckfire & Co. as a financial advisor. Most companies that Miller Buckfire advises are currently in bankruptcy or emerging from bankruptcy.