Gabbie took out the women's gift last year, while Jack was fourth in the open 120m event.

It's been a different lead-up to the 2021 meet due to COVID-19, but Gabbie is confident she can perform well in defence of her title.

"I'm probably not as well prepared as I was last year, but I've still been training well and moving not too bad," Gabbie said.

"I took a bit of a step back last year and in between all the lockdowns I did a bit of travelling around rural Victoria.

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"The last month and a half we've been very much into hard training with the aim of Wangaratta and all the state championships coming up as well.

"There's always going to be external pressure and people talking about it, but there's no pressure from mum and dad which is all that matters.

"There's no need to overdo it and freak out I guess.

"I'm a bit more relaxed because this time it's a bonus if I perform well, so I'll just see how I go and enjoy it."

Jack admitted he put too much pressure on himself to win last year's gift and has tried to keep it off his mind this time around.

"I broke in my semi-final and got pulled back a metre to five (metres) and made the final at five," he said.

"I ran fourth in the final off six (metres). I ran quite poorly and put too much pressure on myself to run well.

"We haven't really spoken about it at training or anything, we've just been focusing on the amateurs and the normal stuff we do and not thought about the gift.

"I think I got caught up in it all last year, so I want to ignore the past and just focus on running and having a bit of fun.

"I've raced the last two weekends and I'm feeling quite quick."

Entries are up by 75 on last year and event organiser Graeme Taylor is eager to celebrate the centenary milestone.

Taylor is in the process of writing a book on the Wangaratta Gift's 100-year history, having been involved for 47 years himself.

"It has changed dramatically over the years, but we're still running," he said.

"We don't really know what the future holds, but lets celebrate this centenary."

The carnival has also received a record 28 entries for the woodchopping, with world champions Brayden Meyer and Laurence O'Toole among the field to compete for $7000 in prize money.

Forecast extreme heat has seen the start of the race program pushed back from 3.30pm to 5.30pm, with the woodchopping to start at 1.30pm.

The 100^th Wangaratta Gift will be run at 10.24pm, with the women's final at 8.38pm