The club replaced the old surface with volcanic basalt which is a waste product from crushed blue metal used on bitumen roads.

Wagga, Leeton, Coolamon, Canberra and Bathurst tracks all use the same material.

The club footed the bill for the upgrade at a cost of approximately $17,000.

Committeeman Paul Brown said the upgrade was necessary with the club now racing in the winter months.

The track will face its first test on Tuesday night with the club set to host a seven race card.

"We never previously raced in winter and now we do," Brown said.

"Basically if we didn't do the upgrade, we simply wouldn't be able to race in winter.

"We have already lost three meetings recently.

"The biggest issue when the track gets wet is the mobile start can't get around the track and the OHS issue because they get up to about 80km/h.

"If we hadn't done the upgrade we would have had no hope of racing on Tuesday night.

"But I'm confident the meeting will go ahead now despite all the rain we have had."

"Everytime the club loses a meeting it costs around $10,000 in lost turnover.

ALSO IN SPORT

Brown has worked horses on the new surface and is pleasantly surprised by the result.

"It makes a huge difference," he said.

"Previously you would come back covered in dirt but now there's hardly any."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: