Forbury Park staff will cast the odd furtive glance skyward over the next week as they try to repair the damage caused to the track by last Wednesday's floodingAfter the water finally disappeared from the track on Friday night, the extent of the damage to the track was revealed.
The 1000m track suffered considerable damage.
Deep rutting at the top of the home straight and the finish line is causing the biggest headaches for the Forbury Park management team and track staff.
''We're subject to the weather with the repair work,'' Forbury Park general manager John Ayoub said.
The ruts, running much of the width of the track in the two problem areas, need to be filled in with lime and loam dust.
This needs to be filled in and packed down during warm, windy weather to speed up the drying process - a process which is scheduled for today with track staff and contractors.
''We've got to get them repaired so they're nice and hard before the racing surface gets put back on top, to avoid having any soft spots that a horse might put its hoof in,'' he said.
''[Tuesday] looks the best day, so our aim is to get the ruts filled today and that's what they are working on. And then we're into the lap of the gods in a wee way.''
Harness Racing New Zealand national track and venue inspector John Denton flew down last night to oversee the work and will remain in Dunedin for the week.
Ayoub is confident, provided the weather plays its part, that the track will be set for the June 18 meeting.
''That's the plan,'' he said.
''I'll be disappointed if we've got to move again, so our whole focus is being ready for Thursday week back here.
''We'll have a better idea Wednesday or Thursday and we will make a call on Friday so that the trainers have enough time.''
Moving the Forbury Park meeting to Gore on Saturday - sandwiched between Addington on Friday and Oamaru on Sunday - has not deterred too many trainers, as 157 nominations were received for the meeting.
''One of the other reasons we went to Gore is that the track is the same size as ours, so our race programme can stay the same,'' Ayoub said.
''We might lose a few Christchurch guys from coming down to Gore ... but that's the best we can do.''
Ayoub acknowledged the support from Harness Racing New Zealand and the New Zealand Racing Board, which enabled the club to make a swift decision by Friday about the location and timing of this week's meeting.
Ayoub said both clubs at Gore - the harness racing club and the racing club - were happy to host the meeting, while the Oamaru clubs had also been co-operative.
''They were happy to have us there if we had to go there.
An electrician was checking the floodlights yesterday, as some of the light boxes were under water during the flooding and water had got into the club's substation.
Ayoub also spent time yesterday with insurance assessors and the club's broker, assessing the severe water damage to some of the function rooms.
