Organisers are hopeful that this wet weather will pass over as predicted and that sunshine will break through on Saturday for the Winning Edge Presentations Hawke's Bay Gold Cup at the Hastings racecourse.
Hawke's Bay Racing general manager Andrew Castles said it would be a rain-affected surface but that it should not be too testing depending on how much rain fell between now and then.
"We are all set to go - we got all the mowing done earlier in the week as we were mindful of this weather coming through - all going well it should be a nice day on the track on Saturday."
The Hawke's Bay Cup is one of New Zealand's oldest racedays, first run 150 years ago, and Mr Castles said it had a tradition of hosting some top performers.
"Last year's winner Chenille went on to win the Auckland Cup this year - this is a time-honoured event."
Although there could be scratchings depending on the state of the track, Mr Castles said one horse that would likely not mind the rain too much would be Five to Midnight, who had a current race record of four wins from 21 starts with prizemoney of $141,085.
Mr Castles said that as well as the racing action there would be entertainment for all including face painting and a bouncy castle for the young ones.
The gates open on Saturday at 11am with the first race getting underway just before 12.30pm.