Super Saturday became saturated as a torrential hailstorm flooded Flemington and washed out two of the biggest events on the Australian racing calendar.Jockey Damien Oliver said he hadn't seen anything like it in 20 years of racing as a mighty storm erupted over Flemington just as Wanted headed the field home in the Group One Newmarket Handicap.The $1 million Newmarket was the only one of the three Group One races to be run, with more than two centimetres of ice on the track making conditions to

Super Saturday became saturated as a torrential hailstorm flooded Flemington and washed out two of the biggest events on the Australian racing calendar.

Jockey Damien Oliver said he hadn't seen anything like it in 20 years of racing as a mighty storm erupted over Flemington just as Wanted headed the field home in the Group One Newmarket Handicap.

The $1 million Newmarket was the only one of the three Group One races to be run, with more than two centimetres of ice on the track making conditions too dangerous to stage the Guineas and the Australian Cup.

The two feature races, worth a combined $1.75 million, will be squeezed into next week's extended card at Flemington.

The first lightning forked over the course as the 19 horses in the Newmarket headed down the straight at 2.35pm (AEDT).

Jockey Dwayne Dunn admitted the scene was scary as lightning pierced the heavy clouds above while he was in the middle of a big race field.

"The lightning and thunder was getting close and when coming down the straight there were three or four lightning strikes," Dunn said after steering Duporth to ninth.

The thunder rolled in and punters ran for cover, the jockeys sprinted for the rooms and strappers struggled to control the spooked horses.

Two bolted loose, with Newmarket fourth placegetter King Pulse slipping over twice and suffering suspected internal injuries.

After 19 millimetres of rain and fields of hail fell in 18 minutes, Flemington was covered in a white blanket.

Much of the course lost power, stairwells became waterfalls, massive pools formed with drifts of hail forming floating islands, ceilings leaked, the sewer system backed up and water flowed under doors into bars.

It caused chaos as car parks flooded and trains were delayed, forcing racegoers to wait it out in the soggy bars.

The storm had been brewing all day and officials said they were lucky it didn't arrive only a minute earlier with 19 horses and jockeys hurtling down the track.

"We are lucky as it would have caused a huge amount of carnage for jockeys and horses with that hail storm coming down in their faces," Victorian Racing Club chief executive Dale Monteith said.

Monteith said the ice on the track made it impossible to race and there was no option but to postpone the Guineas and Cup until next week.

Chief steward Terry Bailey consulted the VRC and jockeys before cancelling the rest of the meeting.

"We thought that in the best interests of everyone and people's safety that we come back next week," Bailey said.