Fellow scratch marker and defending Gift champ Chloe Mannix-Power won her heat in 13.95. Both racing off 11m, frontmarkers Jasmine Rowe (13.74) and Jemma Stapleton (13.75) had the fastest heat times.

Rising Australian sprinters Gout Gout and Lachlan Kennedy were upstaged by schoolteacher John Evans at the country's oldest and richest handicap footrace, the Stawell Gift, on Monday.

The Stawell Gift, Australia's oldest and richest handicap footrace, has been cancelled for the first time since 1945 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, organisers said on Thursday.