Rain has been a blessing across bushfire and drought-stricken communities.
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But in the little pocket south of Wollongong occupied by Kembla Grange racecourse, it lingers like a curse.
A deluge last month forced a meeting to be moved to Newcastle - and the precipitation this week has cast a literal and figurative cloud over the Group 3 Kembla Grange Classic, to be run on Friday.
Until the inaugural running of the $1 million The Gong mile last year, the Kembla Classic - formerly and casually still known as the Keith Nolan - was the Illawarra Turf Club's biggest day.
This year it is followed by the Provincial Championships heat on March 21.
ITC track manager Michael Craig maintains confidence the three-year-old fillies Classic will go ahead.
"We're in the heavy range at the moment, but we expect it will be manageable next week," he said.
"There's forecast for only a couple of millimetres each day, so unless there's a major change, we'll be ok.
"Last month was obviously different with the amount of rain we had."
The state of the track has been a source of constant frustration for staff, trainers and racegoers alike, as they've battled the extremes of the Australian climate.
With the Polytrack now in place to allow more trackwork time, redeveloping the inside, or B, surface is the next stage of the project, to bring it up to a standard aligned with Newcastle's secondary Beaumont track.
Then comes the overhaul of the main track, a development 30 years in the making, which will finally stem the number of race meetings abandoned at Kembla Grange in recent years.
There couldn't be a track in Australia which has lost more meetings due to the state of the surface.
But the establishment of The Gong offers the potential of a remarkable new era for racing in the region.
In an industry awash with prizemoney, Kembla Grange could do with a major refurbishment of grandstand facilities.
To increase capacity for the major days, the layout, particularly the layout between the tie-up stalls and the mounting yard, via the public lawn would need to be addressed.
In the meantime, another cracking addition of the Classic awaits on Friday, the winner to follow in the footsteps of two-time Group 1 winner Hot Danish, 2009 Toorak Handicap winner Allez Wonder and twice Emancipation Stakes winner Zanbagh.
New-look column
Starting next week, the Mercury is launching new-look columns, including moving the weekly wrap of racing to Friday editions.
Check out Inside Racing for all the latest news and tips for the $200,000 Group 3 Kembla Grange Classic.
