The MTC was caught by surprise on Friday when chief executive Steve Keene offered his resignation to take up a position at Scone Race Club.

Keene had only been in the job two and a half years but had impressed the club with his ability to keep the organisation moving forward on the back of a successful era.

Harrison said the club wished Keene all the best at Scone.

"He was second in charge at Wodonga and to step from second in charge at Wodonga into Scott's (Sanbrook) shoes was a big call for anybody at the time and he really did run with that without any trouble at all," Harrison said.

"He was very professional at what he did and he achieved everything that we would have excpected him to, if not more, and he probably achieved a lot more than he thought he would achieve in the time period.

"He's a real big loss, there's no doubt about that and we wish Steve and his family all the best. You can't deny a bloke an opportunity to go into the heart of the racing area."

The club and Keene a yet to negotiate a finish date. It is expected to be mid to late August, with the MTC hopeful he will stay on for the showcase meeting on August 26.

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Either way, the club has been quick to advertise the position and don't expect to have any issues attracting a quality replacement.

"We got (the advertisement) out there as soon as we could because there has been a bit of movement in the ranks so we needed to get it out there as soon as possible," Harrison said.

"Wagga is the leading country track in NSW, if not Australia. I think that's where we won't have any trouble attracting people for the position. It will just be a matter of, have they got racing knowledge.

"There's not another track that's got the facilities or the infrastructure or the quality of racing anywhere that I've been to other than Randwick."

The MTC would love to have their new chief executive on board by the time spring comes around.

A couple of the club's biggest race meetings of the year, Ag races and Kurrajong charity race day, will be held in September and October, along with several other popular race days.

Harrison, however, maintains the club will not rush the process. He believes the club is fortunate enough to be in a position with strong staff to cope until the right person is found.

"We're not going to rush into it," Harrison said.

"We put a fortnight on the ad for applications to be submitted. Until we get those applications, who knows. The biggest issue is if you've got someone who is coming from another club or another organisation, they've got to do the right thing and give the right amount of notice as well. It's not something that we will rush into.

"If we haven't (got someone by spring), the office can handle a couple of race meetings without any trouble. The whole management team are very, very good. The main thing is we won't be jumping to make a decision, if the right person puts their hand up, well and good."

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