The Kensington racetrack at Randwick will be ripped up if structural issues can’t be fixed.
ATC chief executive Darren Pearce said the club had decided to let the grass grow during the warmer spring and summer months in the hope its root system could establish a strong base.
If it doesn’t improve, the course will be dug up.
“We’re giving it one last shot and if it doesn’t improve and we find there are structural issues then we’ll move to replace the track,” Pearce told Sky Sports radio.
“But we’re putting a very intensive program of management into it to see if we can rehabilitate it that one last time.”
The Kensington track has been tested recently through a series of gallops and barrier trials and Pearce says it has handled the traffic “just OK”.
The course has been closed for racing since last November.