Sydney's flagship spring carnival has been thrown into disarray and one of the main grandstands at Randwick closed because it poses a safety risk.Australian Turf Club officials have already been forced to move Saturday's Chelmsford Stakes meeting to Warwick Farm after an engineering issue was discovered in the roof of the Queen Elizabeth II stand on Tuesday.NSW Racing Minister George Souris said it was unclear whether Randwick would be fit to host its upcoming carnival meetings, next month's Geo

Sydney's flagship spring carnival has been thrown into disarray and one of the main grandstands at Randwick closed because it poses a safety risk.

Australian Turf Club officials have already been forced to move Saturday's Chelmsford Stakes meeting to Warwick Farm after an engineering issue was discovered in the roof of the Queen Elizabeth II stand on Tuesday.

NSW Racing Minister George Souris said it was unclear whether Randwick would be fit to host its upcoming carnival meetings, next month's George Main Stakes day and the Super Saturday program on October 1 which boasts four Group One races including the Epsom Handicap.

"We won't know how the spring carnival, the jewel in the NSW racing calendar, will be affected with the George Main Stakes meeting set down for September 17," Souris said.

"However, I repeat that public safety is the only consideration and the QEII stand will not reopen until that can be guaranteed."

The QEII stand is known to be affected by concrete cancer but ATC chief executive Darren Pearce says the problem with the roof is a fresh issue.

Two cables attached to one of the beams have corroded and the remaining beams now need to be tested to see if the problem is isolated or far-reaching.

The damage was identified by engineers as part of their due diligence for the $150 million redevelopment of Randwick.

Pearce also pointed out the ATC was unable to simply close the QEII stand and carry on with Saturday's meeting as the affected section housed major race day operations including the jockeys' weighing room, stewards' room and race callers' box.

It also overhangs the mounting yard and a major pedestrian thoroughfare.

"Trying to relocate all of that in time for Saturday was impossible," Pearce said.

While not wishing to speculate on the "what ifs" surrounding the George Main and Epsom meetings, Pearce remains hopeful they will go ahead at Randwick.

But he said it would take between three and seven days for engineers to unearth the extent of the roof problem.

"Obviously we are working on contingency plans between now and then but I don't want to speculate until we know more," he said.

"I'm hoping it's isolated and if it is we're already working on a solution to that.

"The timing stinks but the silver lining to the cloud is that we found it before it found us."

Pearce also praised the racing industry for its support, noting that Saturday's meeting, which boasts five stakes race, was still top class despite the venue switch.

Trainers were overwhelmingly sympathetic to the ATC's plight but also disappointed to lose a major meeting from what is considered Sydney's premier track.

The uncertainty over future Randwick fixtures also poses a dilemma for trainers trying to map out spring programs.

Gai Waterhouse said she was happy to take runners to Warwick Farm on Saturday but was damning of the problems at Randwick.

"They should just get on and get the place fixed. It just seems to be a series of errors," Waterhouse said.

ATC chairman John Cornish said the problem with the roof underlined the need for Randwick's redevelopment.

"This reinforces the desperate need for new facilities and the importance of the $150 million investment into the development of Royal Randwick facilities," Cornish said.

The midweek card scheduled for Warwick Farm next Wednesday has been moved to Canterbury due to the track change this weekend.