Stawell Bonus Incentives 2022/23 Season

The VAL have released the following information regarding the Stawell bonus incentives for the upcoming season.

What are everyone's original thoughts? No more 1m lifts on offer, Classic and Group 1 races such as Maryborough/Ballarat/Keilor don't have a lift attached, instead athletes will keep their winning handicap for these events. Lifts for the Open/Men's races are the exact same as the Women's. No lifts for winning any Open 550m, 800m, 1600m, 3200m or Women's 800m during the season.

BONUS LIFT INCENTIVES FOR STAWELL

Open/Men’s and Women’s Gifts

The table below contains the lifts that will be applied to each event winner’s handicap for the Stawell Men’s and Women’s Gifts. The VAL Board may alter this lift schedule in the event of changes to the season calendar.

November – December = 0.75m

Essendon
12/11/2022
N/A

Warrnambool
3/12/2022
0.75 m

Terang
4/12/2022
0.75 m

Waverley
11/12/2022
0.75 m

Geelong
17/12/2022
0.75 m

January – February = 0.5m

Maryborough
1/01/2023
N/A*
Classic/Group 1

St Albans
7/01/2023
0.5 m

Rye
14/01/2023
0.5 m

Frankston
21/01/2023
0.5 m

Wangaratta
28/01/2023
0.5 m

Beachside
4/02/2023
0.5 m

Ballarat
11-12/02/2023
N/A*
Classic/Group 1

Keilor
18/02/2023
N/A*
Classic/Group 1

Castlemaine
26/02/2023
0.5 m

March = 0.25m

Maribyrnong
5/03/2023
0.25 m

Bendigo
11-12/03/2023
0.25 m

Euroa
18/03/2023
0.25 m

Shepparton
19/03/2023
0.25 m

Ringwood
25/03/2023
No lift (non-penalty) winner keeps mark.

*Winners will not be eligible for a Stawell Lift in Classic or Group 1 races, they will keep their winning mark for Stawell, except in the instance of a Classic or Group 1 Women’s Gift race where the prize money is not equal to the Open/Men’s Gift prize pool at the same Meeting, women will be eligible for a Stawell Lift.

Eligibility criteria for receiving lifts

1. To be eligible for a lift, male and female athletes must have competed at least once in a VAL competition over the 100/120m distance in the Men’s, Women’s or Open categories in the 2020/21 or 2021/22 seasons, or have a handicap that is less than the novice handicap.
2. To be eligible for a lift, an athlete must not break ceiling time in winning their event.
3. If an athlete wins a second event over the 100/120m distance, they will become ineligible for their lift.
4. The lift will be added to the athlete’s winning handicap for Stawell Gift races only. Standard penalties will apply for all other events.
5. In receiving this lift, athletes may not be handicapped to a mark that places them beyond their ceiling handicap; however, they may receive a portion of the allocated lift so that they are handicapped to that ceiling mark. More information on ceiling times can be found within the Handicap Regulations.
6. An athlete may not receive a handicap that is more than 2 metres from their season start mark.
7. Athletes that are allocated a UP (Unacceptable Performance) during the season will not automatically qualify for a lift in the Stawell Gift. Any lift applied will be at the discretion of the VAL stewards.
8. A win in an Open 100/120m race by a female athlete excludes that athlete from receiving any lift in the Stawell Women's Gift.
9. In the event that the Stawell Men’s or Women’s Gifts are not conducted, lifts will not be carried forward to future seasons.

Open and Women’s Distance Events

Instead of receiving a lift for winning an event during the season, athletes who win events in the following Open or Women’s Distance events become eligible to retain that winning handicap at Stawell in the same event:

Open 550 m
Open 800 m
Women’s 800 m
Open 1600 m
Open 3200 m

The following criteria applies:

1. To be eligible for retaining a winning handicap, male and female athletes must have competed at least once in a VAL competition over that distance in the Men’s, Women’s or Open categories in the 2020/21 or 2021/22 seasons, or have a handicap that is less than the novice handicap.
2. To be eligible for retaining a winning handicap, an athlete must not break ceiling time in winning their event.
3. If an athlete wins a second event over that distance, they may still be eligible to receive their winning handicap at Stawell at the discretion of the handicapper and Handicap Review Panel.
4. In retaining their winning handicap, athletes may not be handicapped at Stawell to a mark that places them beyond their ceiling handicap. More information on ceiling times can be found within the Handicap Regulations.
5. Athletes that are allocated a UP (Unacceptable Performance) during the season will not automatically qualify to retain their winning handicap at Stawell. Any decision will be at the discretion of the VAL stewards.

The VAL board has the power to declare a race not part of the bonus or vary the bonus amount prior to start of season, or in the event of changes to the season calendar.