Ararat's Marcus Cooper Stable has enjoyed an impressive season on the Victorian Athletic League circuit already in 2013/14 and head coach Cooper said he is hoping his runners can finish it off on a high note.

"You don't get seasons like this one very often," he said.

"To everyone's credit they did all the hard work in the winter and I kept saying if you do the hard work now it will pay off later when the season starts and that's what happened.

"So Stawell has come around and this is it, but after Bendigo can you get any better? Is it two grand finals?"

Six weeks ago at the Bendigo Gift one of the major meetings behind Stawell two of the Cooper Stable's most promising athletes produced their biggest wins of their running careers.

Tiffany Boatman took out the group one 400-metre Black Opal handicap final, while Sarah Blizzard was victorious in the major 120-metre Women's Gift.

This weekend the two up and coming stars are among the best local chances to bring home a sash from Central Park.

"Tiffany has a fantastic mark in the Women's Gift, she is right out there and if she can get her headspace right then away she'll go and look out!" Cooper said.

"I think she has a strong chance of doing very well."

With the presence of Australia's fastest female sprinter over 100 metres, Melissa Breen, contesting the event all other runners in the women's event have had their handicap lifted.

Cooper said unfortunately Blizzard's handicap had only been halved compared to the rest of the field due to her victory at Bendigo last month.

"The girls have been put out because of Melissa Breen coming, so Sarah has what looks like a great mark but it is actually not," he said.

"All the girls have been put out four metres, but then Sarah has actually been pulled two for winning Bendigo."

Cooper said he has told Blizzard to just concentrate on racing the clock and not her opponents.

"I want to see a fast time from Sarah," he said.

"I've just said focus on running a fast time, don't worry about anything else around her, and we will see what happens."

Regardless of the results on Easter Saturday, the Cooper Stable is guaranteed to have two athletes make finals appearances on the final day of the carnival, with Jacqui Scott and Fraser Heard qualifying for the 120m VRTA U/20 Series Final.

"They have made it through to the semis already and if Jacqui runs to what she is capable of I think she can make the final," Cooper said.

"If she lets herself go and just goes for it, I think she could do some damage in the final too.

"Fraser has a hard, tough mark, I don't know if he will get through, but you've got to be in it to win it and he has done all the work.

"I think Fraser is the one who is jumping out of his skin the most, he can't contain himself. There's a few excited ones and they are all ready to go.

"We've got five runners that haven't experienced Stawell before, so that's interesting."

The Ararat runners have had the opportunity each Sunday for the past month to train on the hallowed turf at Stawell in preparation for the Easter carnival.

The stable has done a number of time trials up the gift straight and around the 800, 400 and 200-metre tracks to get a feel for what they will be up against.

Cooper, who is a veteran of 25 Stawell Gift meetings, said this will be the second year he will not contest 'Australia's most famous footrace'.

"I am 41 and I don't need to be going down there now, last year was the first time I didn't compete in the Gift," he said.

"I probably could still make the semis but I don't see the point when I could concentrate on another race, which is what I am doing."

Cooper said he had intended to concentrate on the Veterans' 100m Handicap as his main goal, but has since been 'handicapped out of it' at three metres, so instead expect a big showing in the 200m Handicap event from the talented running coach.

Marcus Cooper previews his other athletes' chances at the 133rd Stawell Gift Carnival...

Ben Boatman - He ran a really good 400-metre time trail in Stawell, so we will see how he goes handling the pressure now. It is a bit different when you have a few guys running around you and you're trying to chase them down. Ben has come along really nicely and the improvement I have seen in him from Terang to now is just unbelievable. I can't wait till next season with him.

Ruby Klemm - Rubes is injury free finally, it has taken her all season but we've got there. She's done a couple of time trials and ran well but may be a little off the pace. I want her to just smash the 400 and I said if you get around and are in front with 20 to go but can't hang on, well that's bad luck. We'll just let her off the leash to go for it and she is well aware of where she is at. I'm expecting a massive pre-season from her.

Zoe Nicholson - I am liking the look of Zoe at the moment, she is very focused. She has been running this season and been learning fast. What we saw over in the 600m at Bendigo from Zoe was very promising, he speed was very good and she just ran out of puff with about 200m to go. I really think she could make the 800m final.

Erica McConachy - Is probably a little off the pace, but we'll see what she does. I reckon being an older athlete she might be waiting for a bigger crowd and then could surprise a few. When we did the second time trial of the 800m she stepped it up a bit, she responded to what I asked of her.

Kieren Blizzard - Kieren is having his first run and I'm still battling a little with him to get his stride happening. He tries so hard and it is just going to take a little longer than I thought, but that's alright everyone is different and not everyone is a superstar, but the ones that work at it you find are the ones that stick at it longer and achieve something down the track.

Brody Taylor - Brody is my 'Stawell specialist' at the moment, he keeps popping up and making finals at Stawell, he has done it the last two years. If he does it again this year I'll be beating him around the ears for not doing it all year (joking), I really hope he does because for Brody he has had so many injuries and setbacks and all I want to do is get him a sash. He's got early speed he just can't hang on to it, but I know what he has to do to get stronger.

Julia Boatman - It has been a bit hard with Julia because she has been up in Albury at uni. She trained with us on Sunday and looked fine, but I don't know what she'll do because I haven't seen her run since Bendigo. Knowing Jules she'll be in good shape, better shape than this time last year where she wasn't running at all (due to an ankle injury), so she's got to be proud of what she has achieved this year.

Fraser Heard - I really believe his big show will be in the 400-metre front markers. We've got to sit down and have really good talk on how he is going to run this because he didn't get to do much training up in Stawell.

Jacquie Scott - We will be focusing on the 100m series final for Jac, I think that's where her mindset will be. She'll run a good 400m, but will probably run out of legs in the last 60 metres, but she'll still run well.