Ballarat Turf Club is facing the possibility of another battle to retain the traditional late November timeslot for its cup meeting.
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Melbourne Racing Club chief executive officer Josh Blanksby has again expressed a desire to reschedule the Caulfield Cup Carnival for the end of spring.
"I think we should look at spreading out the spring," he told RSN radio at the weekend.
"There's no competition now and the weather is better.
"We could may be start it (the Melbourne Spring Carnival) mid-September and finish it late-November.
"Whether that means the Caulfield Cup has to be on November 28 I'm not sure," Blanksby said.
Melbourne Racing Club early this year raised the idea of running the two-week Caulfield Cup Carnival after the Melbourne Cup in late November - a shift which would force a date change for the Ballarat Cup.
Some saw this year as an opportune time to look at a major change to the racing calendar owing to sporting events being compromised by COVID-19 restrictions.
The BTC campaigned through Country Racing Victoria against the proposal, with a firm resolve to keep its cup meeting immediately after the Melbourne carnival as the last major meeting of the spring rather than potentially be pushed back into December.
Racing Victoria ultimately rejected the MRC idea, keeping the traditional format and allowing the Sportsbet Ballarat Cup to be run on Saturday, November 21.
