Doomben racecourse is recovering quickly after being hit by a deluge in a bizarre afternoon of weather.

Light rain fell early on Saturday afternoon and was followed by a storm which dumped about 25mm on the track in 15 minutes just after the running of race five.

The official enclosure was under water and the track sodden.

Stewards were set to call off the meeting immediately but with the sun out they elected to give the track 30 minutes to dry.

Jockeys and stewards inspected the track at 4pm, deciding it was still too saturated to race with the final three races scrapped.

Doomben is set to host another meeting on Wednesday and should have no problems.

"Doomben is one of the best drying tracks around and provided there are no more storms like that there won't be any dramas," chairman of stewards, Daniel Aurisch, said.