THE Wyong Race Club's washed-out gold cup meeting yesterday has set up a showdown with Racing NSW. The ruling body ordered that the meeting be run on Monday, after freakish rain deposited 50 millimetres on the track in less than three hours yesterday morning. It was the third time in succession the Wyong Cup meeting has been called off.

"The Wyong Race Club board is adamant no funding will be put into Monday's meeting," WRC chief executive Tony Drew said last night. "We believe it will be financially unviable for the club to run on Monday as we have suffered a substantial loss today."

The WRC had employed 360 people to cater for 24 corporate functions housed in 15 marquees and the grandstand. The club hosted a phantom meeting and the majority of 2336 hot meals were served although the club has lost turnover and on-course patronage.

"We are mindful that this will come at some cost to the Wyong Race Club and those matters will be addressed," Racing NSW general manager of racing and commercial Greg Rudolph said last night.

"It is a difficult decision but in the interest of the industry as a whole it is important that the meeting proceeds. It is imperative for these horses that are heading to races like the Newcastle Cup and The Metropolitan that the Wyong Cup be run."

HEAVY BLOW: The return to Randwick today will almost certainly be on a heavy track. AJC track manager David Hodgson yesterday downgraded the course from a dead to slow 7 after 10mm of rain but said "more is coming down the coast". Due to the course proper being mowed short due to World Youth Day commitments, Hodgson expects it to chop up.

One of the stars racing today is Newcastle filly Samantha Miss, which won the group 1 Champagne Stakes at Randwick in the autumn before resuming with a barnstorming victory in the Silver Shadow Stakes a fortnight ago. Samantha Miss will contest the Furious Stakes, with trainer Kris Lees saying: "The rain doesn't matter. She goes through it no problems, she is a real little professional."