The controversial Eagle Farm track will be out of action until at least March, and probably longer, with the top layer of sand and the turf likely to be torn up and replaced.
The track report, by Victorian Racing Club CEO Dale Monteith, is due back at the end of the week but authorities are still awaiting final test results on the sand base.
However Racenet understands the most likely scenario is Eagle Farm will remain a sand-based track with the current base replaced with "a more angular type of sand."
If authorities push ahead with this measure rather than opt for a sand-loam mix, it is likely to create more controversy given industry reservations about pure sand-based tracks.
There has been a last-minute push by some racing industry heavyweights to put the sand-loam solution back up for consideration in the report.
Racenet can reveal that Monteith's report has showed there is no problem with the expensive drainage system which lays underneath the Eagle Farmtrack.
However an organic layer was stopping water draining through the canopy of the track.
If authorities push ahead with the recommendation to replace the sand, it is understood remedial work will take a minimum of six months.
After a tender process, work would likely commence in September and the hope is the track would be ready for racing in March.
But if there are any delays to that process, or authorities decide on a more complicated fix, the track rebuild could take many more months and even struggle to be ready for next year's Queensland Winter Carnival.
The $10million track was widely panned during the recent Carnival, with jockeys and training complaining horses were essentially just galloping into a sand track.
The Winter Carnival was then thrown into disarray when Eagle Farm was closed indefinitely after the Group I Kingsford Smith Cup meeting with the Oaks, Stradbroke and Tatt's Tiara all transferred to Doomben.
The track has since been sitting dormant as industry participants wait for Monteith's report.
