A $1.2 million boost for Albury racecourse will ensure sprinklers no longer have to be moved around the track like a backyard and meetings are less at the mercy of rain.
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The money, announced by NSW deputy premier Troy Grant, during a visit to the racecourse on Saturday, will go towards a new irrigation system and improving the track through a realignment and removal of a camber.
Albury Racing Club chief executive John Miller was delighted with the funding, which has been actively sought since 2011.
"This is the first time in 130 years there's been serious money thrown at the track," Mr Miller said.
"It's just a huge opportunity for this club to improve the standard of the track and facility for racing and for local trainers.
"It means the track is on a level where it should be."
Mr Miller said a poor drainage system and a camber on the back straight contributed to the track being very susceptible to rain with a loss of $10,000 for each cancelled meeting.
He pointed to the 2013 cup when 2.5 centimetres of rain saw the track go from good to heavy, when ideally it should have been good to soft.
Mr Miller said the sprinkler system saw staff have to move sprayers around like you would in a backyard with watering of all the track taking more than a day.
"We can only run 18 sprinklers at a time," he said.
"There's clubs that race five to six times a year that have better irrigation systems than ours."
Mr Miller hopes work on the irrigation system and other measures will begin after next year's Gold Cup and be complete for the spring carnival in 2017.
He said some of the 18 annual meetings would be lost, but the Gold Cup would proceed in 2017 and he hopes when complete some rain-affected days at other tracks will go to Albury.
Member for Albury Greg Aplin welcomed the funding, while Mr Grant said it reflected the government's push to have Racing NSW spend more money in country areas.
"Racing NSW have got a very clear message from me about my desire to see them invest in the infrastructure and sustainability of racing throughout the regions," Mr Grant said.
"I think for too long there has been a disconnect between country, provincial and metropolitan racing and I want to address that and there are a number of ways we do that and infrastructure investment is a very important one."
