The club was forced to switch Monday’s trials to Wodonga after the discovery of cockchafer beetles at the weekend.

The pests, known for their voracious appetite, eat the roots of grass and were detected at the track on Saturday.

The insect can wreak havoc if left undetected, however, Wangaratta Turf Club chief executive officer Paul Hoysted said Monday’s switch to Wodonga was purely a precautionary one.

“We think we’ve got it early,” Hoysted said.

“We sprayed as soon as it was detected to make sure.

“Obviously the earlier you treat these kind of things the better.

“The track needed 20mm of irrigation after the spray and with the rain on Sunday as well, the track would have got chopped up if we had the trials.”

The beetles, a notorious pest in the racing industry, cause track surfaces to loosen in affected patches which often leads to horses throwing up heavy divots during races.

Hoysted said the current track was technically unaffected by the turf-invading insect and that the club’s next scheduled meeting on January 24 was almost certain to go ahead as planned.

“We’ve moved the rail out four metres so there aren’t actually any affected areas on the track right now,” Hoysted said.

“All the affected areas were inside four metres of the rail.

“Mainly around the home bend at the 400-metre mark.

“We think we’re on top of it.”

Nine trials, containing 52 horses, were switched at the last minute to Wodonga on Sunday.

Despite the late notice, Wodonga Turf Club boss Brad Thomas said his club was happy to lend a hand to its North East racing counterpart.

“We’re always happy to support the industry,” Thomas said.