A report released by a consultant earlier this week following track inspections has not shed much fresh light on the problems which saw a meeting in late January and one in early March abandoned after one race, and a meeting abandoned after six races in early April.
The report, prepared by Jim Murphy of Turf Tech, said the track overall was in good condition, but there was evidence of some weaker soil structure and function around the 800m bend.
''This area, like the rest of the track, still presents very well under visual inspection, with excellent grass cover and no identifiable cause for concern.''
Turf Tech produces reports annually for New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) for all strategic and significant tracks in the country.
The entire track had been cored since the last two races at the April 9 meeting were abandoned, on top of aeration and scarification work done in the late summer.
Wingatui track manager Wayne Stevens said the three types of turf management mentioned above were part of the track's annual maintenance.
''We've vertidrained, scarified and cored the whole track - that stuff is all part of our annual renovations that we do, but it was just obviously brought forward a bit.''
The club has also invested in a new mower, which should ease the effect of traffic on the track.
''It's a lot lighter than the tractor and it keeps the weight off the track . . . which will achieve less compaction, I guess,'' he said.
''If we can lessen compaction, that's going to be a positive for it, and addressing issues with the irrigation system again is going to help to have a better racing surface.''
An audit of the irrigation system was completed yesterday. While that report - completed by irrigation consultant Peter Barwell - would take several days to be prepared, Stevens said some potential improvements had already been highlighted.
''He saw some obvious things that weren't as good as they could be as far as spacing on the sprinklers and things like that. He said we can definitely get it to run better than it is now, so that's a positive, too.''
The next step is another inspection today by NZTR, Turf Tech, the Racing Integrity Unit, the club, trainers and jockeys, before jumpouts are held on Tuesday.
''The track is looking really good and I'm really happy with it,'' Stevens said.
''We've got that walk-around tomorrow and then we'll get some jumpouts under way on Tuesday and get back to racing, hopefully.''
Stevens said the backlash had been challenging on him but most notably his track staff.
''We all take a lot of pride in what we do and you don't set out to produce a track that's going to have problems,'' he said.
''It's been really tough - really tough. But that's what we we've got to deal with, I guess. At the end of the day, that's part of the job and the buck stops with me as track manager. We have just got to be positive and move forward.''
Stevens hopes to have the track's reputation back among the best in the country in the coming months.
''It was only just over a year ago that Hayden Tinsley was praising it as one of the best summer tracks he's ridden on. Nothing's changed as far as what we've done - it doesn't go from a good track to a bad track just like that.''
