The Magpie Gift 2026

THE MAGPIE GIFT 2026
The Big Bird of Australian Gift Racing Has Landed.
Saturday, 14 November 2026
Fremantle Cockburn Hockey Club

For generations, the Stawell Gift, the Burnie Gift, the Bay Sheffield and their
interstate cousins have carried the torch for professional handicap racing.
Cute but they've had a decent run and consider them the kiddies' warm-up acts.
Because in 2026, Western Australia unveils something bigger, bolder and
unapologetically more entertaining.

Welcome to The Magpie Gift.
The inaugural event the likes of which WA has never seen.
Fast. Fierce. Slightly unhinged.
And destined to become Australia's most talked-about day of sprint racing.

Race Program
120m Men's Magpie Gift Handicap
120m Women's Magpie Gift Handicap
120m Junior Magpie Gift Handicap (Mixed)
Mixed Mile Handicap - One race. Straight-out final. No second chances.

Prize Money on Offer!
Why race for glory when you can race for glory and cash?
With prize money up for grabs across the day's feature events, there'll be plenty of
incentive to throw yourself across the finish line.
Full prize breakdowns to be announced soon.

Think you're quicker than the Magpies? There's only one way to find out.

Prize Money
The Magpie Gift is designed to reward those who can handle the pressure when it
matters most.
For each event, prize money will be calculated from the total entry fees collected for
that race, with payouts as follows:
Placing Prize Allocation
1st Place 30% of total entry fees collected

2nd Place 12.5% of total entry fees collected

3rd Place 7.5% of total entry fees collected

A total of 50% of all entry fees collected for each event will be returned directly to
competitors as prize money, with the remaining funds contributing to event delivery,
facilities, officiating, timing services and future growth of the Magpie Gift.

The Magpie Celebrity Dash
Because some reputations deserve testing.
Who in WA can actually run?
Will politicians survive the blowtorch of public expectation?
Can media personalities talk as quickly as they sprint?
Will sporting legends discover that retirement has taken more than just their match
payments?
Invitations are headed to some of WA's biggest names for the inaugural Magpie
Celebrity Dash.
We're looking at you:
 Radio hosts.

TV personalities.
Retired sporting greats.
Politicians with suspicious confidence.
Musicians.
Local celebrities who have claimed 'I would've gone pro if not for my knee'
No hiding behind microphones.
No scripts.
No excuses.
Just 120 metres of truth.

Friday Night Tradition...
Now, we would never encourage gambling.
But we also respect tradition.
And in the proud spirit of Australian Gift racing, there may just be whispers of a
Magpie Gift Calcutta on the Friday evening.
A chance for racegoers to study the form, identify the smokies, passionately
overvalue their mates and suddenly become experts in handicap sprinting.
Completely unofficial, of course.
Until someone starts waving a bidding paddle.
Details to follow...

Enter Now
All entrants must submit their best verified or honestly declared performance
time over the distance of the event they are entering.
- 120m Gift entrants must provide their best 120m sprint time (or nearest
equivalent sprint performance if no official 120m time exists).
- Mixed Mile entrants must provide their best mile time or nearest equivalent
middle-distance performance.
- Supporting evidence such as official race results, timing records, club records
or coach verification may be requested by the Handicapper.

The Magpie Gift Handicapper will utilise the same principles and
methodologies that have made the Stawell Gift Australia's premier
professional footrace for more than a century.

A significant emphasis will be placed on honest and accurate entries.
The integrity of handicap racing relies upon competitors providing genuine best
performances. Deliberately misleading, exaggerated or understated times
disadvantage fellow competitors and undermine the spirit of the event.

The Great Equaliser
The beauty of Gift racing is that every competitor starts with a chance.
A club hockey player could beat a WAFL footballer.
A veteran could beat a twenty-year-old.

A celebrity could become a champion.
Or a professional athlete could discover that giving away a ten-metre start is harder
than it looks.
The handicapper's job is simple: Give everyone a chance.
Your job is simpler: Tell the truth about your speed and let the race decide the
rest. 

Be part of the first chapter of what promises to become one of Australia's great
sporting traditions.

Competitors are encouraged to enter early to assist with handicapping, race
programming and the publication of official fields.

Remember, the Magpie Gift is a handicap event. Your nominated performance time
is a critical part of the handicapping process, so please ensure all information
provided is honest and accurate.

THE MAGPIE GIFT 2026
Stawell had its moment. Burnie had a crack. Bay Sheffield gave it a nudge.
Now it's Fremantle Cockburn’s turn.