The club had got through their first three races unscathed before the Ladbrokes Multimaker 0-2 Wins Stakes (520 metres) got underway a little too quickly.

The bunny began to roll around the home turn for the race start but the boxes flew open before it had a chance to get in front of the starting point.

Competitors charged out of the boxes but quickly dropped off their top pace with nothing to chase down.

Officials started looking at the starting equipment and came to a quick conclusion that water had made its way into the electrical system and triggered the early starts.

It was tough news for trainers who had made the trip to Bathurst only to have the race abandoned.

Prizemoney was split evenly between all eight runners.

Kennerson Park racing manager Jason Lyne said it's quite the uncommon occurrence at the Bathurst track.

"It's rare. I believe water's got into the top of the sensor so for the rest of the meeting we're going to be hand starting, so it's a manual start without using the electronic trip," he said.

"It hasn't happened for a long time here. It's unbelievable."

The incident with the sensor was a cruel blow for the club after the rain had held off just enough for the meeting to go ahead.

"A couple of guys have travelled for that race but that was beyond our control," Lyne said.

"Our preventative measure now is to use the lever at the top of the boxes to start the rest of the races."

The remainder of the meeting did indeed go smoothly as the backup manual option did its job in the rain.