Although marks for the Burnie Gift on New Year's Day have been released sprint handicapper Andrew Willis has withheld the handicap for Ross because, as he admits, he doesn't know what mark to give him.

``I want to wait for a few more days and assess the form from the early carnivals before making a decision on Ross,'' he said.

Ross is in the history books as the only runner to have won the Burnie Gift twice from scratch although it is likely he will get a lift off that mark.

``Ross is making a comeback to running and I can't be too hard on him,'' Willis said.

Willis is into his second year as sprint handicapper and follows the philosophy that every runner deserves a winning chance.

He has also withheld the marks for former Stawell Gift winner Adrian Mott and Simon Fitzpatrick among others.

``I'm going through the handicaps a second time and I expect Burnie to be finalised by the end of next week,'' he said.

Victorian runner Chris Hargreaves has been penalised two metres following his win in the Queanbeyan Gift at the weekend.

Hargreaves pocketed $10,000 when he beat home Elliott Marynissen and Josh Ross and he will now run off 7.25m at Burnie.

Ross ran off 0.75m at Queanbeyan and was beaten by 0.7 seconds in his second run since making a comeback.

Former world champion Jana Pittman has been given an 11m lift in the Devonport Gift to be run next Thursday.

Pittman ran off scratch when she last contested the Devonport Gift in 2009 but distance handicapper David Heron has taken into account the injuries she has suffered and the amount of time spent away from the track.

``In 2009 she found the scratch mark too tight and didn't go close to making the final,'' he said.

Pittman has been slow to recover from her first run back from a long break and has been training mainly in the swimming pool.

She has struck a particularly tough heat with the field including Abbey de la Motte, Nicole Perry, Sandy Loring and Michelle Davis.

Canberra runner Lauren Boden has been given the backmark in the Devonport Gift and will run from 9m.

Boden and Pittman are on a collision course to represent Australia in the 400m hurdles at the London Olympic Games next year.