The Easter carnival is the 'grand final' for all VAL runners and Ararat's head-coach Marcus Cooper said his athletes will be looking to finish a successful season off on a high.

"It has been a long season, we've been competing since October and been to a lot of meetings. Every time we go to a meeting someone has made a final, we haven't missed one," he said.

"It is pretty impressive when we turn up to a meeting and everyone is in the same running gear, we are a team - the stable - we look the part and we have been running like the part as well."

Cooper has put the growing stable through its paces since pre-season training kicked off in May last year and he is hopeful the 12 runners, including himself, can take home several winners' sashes over the three days of competition.

"They are starting to all look really good, you can just see their fitness levels are at the pinnacle," he said.

"They have been doing tyre-dragging at training and they are getting a lot fitter just doing that. I am freshening them up now, that started last week and it has been a 10-day freshen up, so it has been a good one."

Cooper will be the leading local runner vying for a spot in the final of the $40,000 Australia Post Stawell Gift (120 metres), with heats held on Saturday.

The veteran, who has years of experience competing at the carnival, has made it through to the semi-finals of Australia's richest foot race on numerous occasions, but he said he is now ready to hand over the responsibility to his up and coming stars as early as next year.

"I'm really hoping I don't have to keep running in the Gift, because I'm almost 40 and I'm hoping Lachie Malloy, Jake Robinson and Brody Taylor will step up, maybe even Corey Heard will be a sneaky one with his big long legs," Cooper said.

"If I can get through to the semi-finals that would be pretty awesome, I've made them a few times before. I haven't seen (who I'm up against in the heats) and I don't want to know until at least Friday."

Sarah Blizzard and sisters, Julia and Tiffany Boatman will be the local contenders in the heats of the State of Victoria Strickland Family Women's Gift (120 metres).

All three girls have shown promise during the VAL sprinting events this year and Cooper believes all are capable of making the final.

"Sarah and Julia have been making finals all year, even at the big meetings at Ballarat, Bendigo, St Albans, Keilor, they've made the finals and we've won one and have been placing too," he said.

"Sarah is not on a bad mark considering she was on two metres a couple of weeks ago, now she is out to 10, obviously that tells us the quality of the field she is in. As for Tiffany, I reckon she will surprise a lot of people."

In the Boys' (under 17) Handicap Brody Taylor and Jake Robinson will line up in the 100-metre heats in the hope of making the final.

Cooper said Robinson hadn't raced since his maiden win in the 120-metre novice event in Ballarat in February, while Taylor has been setting himself for Stawell for the past month.

"I've got a sneaking feeling that Brody might go really well in the youth race," he said.

"He is just finding a little bit of form at the right time of the season and his training has been exceptional particularly over the last four weeks."

Another who broke through for her first win in Ballarat was Ruby Klemm and the endurance athlete will line up in the heats of the 800-metre Stawell Medical Centre Women's Handicap on Saturday with stable-mates Tayla Notting and Phoebe Brady.

Cooper again believes all three have the potential to make it through to the final by setting up the race eary before finishing off hard.

Lachie Malloy has already qualified for two finals, the 120-metre RACV U/20 Series Final and the 400-metre Sportsbiz Novice Series Final, following a number of consistent performances throughout the VAL season.

Cooper said Malloy is a hard worker on the track and is hopeful he can deliver, despite some tough handicaps.

"I think he has been pretty hard done by by the handicapper, but I know Lachie and he will put in 110 percent," he said.

The stable's final training session will take place tonight, before the group heads to Central Park tomorrow for a warm-up on the track.

"They will be nervous and that is my job to calm them down and talk to them," Cooper said.

"I've got quite a few that haven't ran (at Stawell before) and it is all new for them. I don't expect them to go out there and smash them, I expect them to go out there and try their best and that's all I can ask for."