Vain Stakes 2023

Ladbrokes Tip: Vain Stakes horses can go on to run in the Coolmore Stud Stakes.

The Vain Stakes is a Group 3 race for three-year-old colts and geldings run during August at Caulfield Racecourse during the early stages of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival.

2022 Vain Stakes winner Giga Kick. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

Run under set weights plus penalties conditions the race takes place over a short sprint distance of 1100m and offers $200,000 in total prize money. This is one of two Group 3 races on the Caulfield card for PB Lawrence Stakes Day along with the Group 3 Quezette Stakes (1100m), which is the fillies’ equivalent.

The meeting is headlined by the Group 2 P.B. Lawrence Stakes (1400m). The Vain Stakes is a good early season lead-up for three-year-olds heading towards tougher sprint races over the carnival including the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) at Flemington Racecourse on Victoria Derby Day. The last horse to complete the Vain Stakes – Coolmore Stud Stakes double was Sepoy (2011).

In 2019 the Vain Stakes winner Bivouac went on to win Sydney’s Group 1 Golden Rose Stakes that preparation and finished runner-up in the Coolmore Stud Stakes. He also returned in the autumn of 2020 to win the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m) down the famous Flemington ‘Straight Six’.

The 2021 Vain Stakes results were franked with the winner Giga Kick going on to win the Group 2 Danehill Stakes next start before his upset success in Sydney’s $15 million The Everest (1200m) that spring at 20/1.

The latest edition of the Vain Stakes ran on Saturday August 19, 2023 at Caulfield Racecourse and saw Godolphin’s returning Golden Slipper runner-up Cylinder ($1.50F) dive late to salute as the odds-on favourite first-up. 

2023 Vain Stakes Results

The official Vain Stakes 2023 Results & Finishing Order will be announced below once the Group 3 race is run and won on Saturday August 19, 2023.

2023 Vain Stakes winner Cylinder saluted narrowly for the punters fresh. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

• 1st: #2 Cylinder
• 2nd: #6 Ouroboros
• 3rd: #4 I Am Unstoppable

It took the length of the straight but the odds-on favourite, Golden Slipper runner-up Cylinder ($1.50F) from the Godolphin stable, drove late to charge home the final 50m and get his nose down right on the line to salute for the punters first-up in the 2023 Vain Stakes results at Caulfield.

Vain Stakes Race Info

• Date: Saturday August 19, 2023
• Track: Caulfield
• Distance: 1100m
• Conditions: 3YO Colts & Geldings – Set weights plus Penalties
• Status: Group 3
• Prize Money: $200,000
• First Run: 1992

Vain Stakes Betting

Vain Stakes betting markets open the Wednesday before the race following the field and barrier draw for the Group 3 sprint showdown. Each year the Vain Stakes odds are led by resuming three-year-olds with a good first-up record that have previous experience over the distance.

Melbourne runners and past Caulfield performers that had a good two-year-old season last time in also sit high up the race’s betting odds. Upsets are not uncommon and the last winner to jump at double-figures in the Vain Stakes markets was Our Playboy ($12 in 2020).

Bivouac ($3 in 2019) and Cylinder ($1.50 in 2023) are the latest favourites in Vain Stakes betting to salute for the punters.

2023 Vain Stakes Odds

The best P.B. Lawrence Stakes Day betting markets on the Group 3 Vain Stakes 2023 will be available right here as soon as Vain Stakes betting opens.

Vain Stakes Field

2019 Vain Stakes champion Bivouac. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

Vain Stakes graduates have a host of next-up options including the Group 3 HDF McNeil Stakes (1200m) at the same track / distance a fortnight later, a double last completed by Gold Symphony (2015). In 2013 the runner-up Fast ‘N’ Rocking also backed-up to win the McNeil Stakes two weeks later.

The Vain Stakes field attracts a line-up of smart young male sprinters heading towards other similar Group events for their age group over the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival. Most of the three-year-old colts and geldings in the field are contesting the race first-up off a winter spell.

The Vain Stakes nominations close the Monday of race week followed by the release of the final field and barriers on the Wednesday before the Group 3 runs on the Saturday.

2023 Vain Stakes Field

The official Vain Stakes 2023 Final Field & Barrier Draw for the Coolmore Stud Stakes spring lead-up will be published below following acceptances.

The 2023 Vain Stakes final field features a small but quality line-up of just seven runners led in betting by James Cummings’ odds-on favourite and Group 1 Golden Slipper runner-up from the autumn, Cylinder, in the outside alley.

2023 Vain Stakes Nominations

The early Vain Stakes 2023 nominations are taken by Racing Victoria on the Monday of race week and will be detailed below.

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

Vain Stakes Tips

Good Vain Stakes tips to consider before placing your spring bets include looking at resuming runners with a strong record when fresh, past winners over the distance and youngsters with form the Melbourne way of going.

Favourites also have a strong recent record in the race so sticking with the punters’ pick is also a top Vain Stakes betting tip with Tony Nicconi ($2.15 in 2018) and Bivouac ($3 in 2019) going back-to-back for the punters’ picks before the 2023 success of the odds-on elect Cylinder ($1.50).

2023 Vain Stakes Tips

Our Ladbrokes’ insider Vain Stakes 2023 betting tips for the Group 3 on PB Lawrence Stakes Day will be detailed below the week of the race.

• To Win: #2 Cylinder ($1.70 at time of publish) – BET NOW

Would love to land on a bit more value but in a field this small with a horse of this calibre it is really hard to tip against the odds-on elect Cylinder. Godolphin’s still untapped Exceed And Excel colt enjoyed a brilliant autumn in Sydney winning back-to-back Group 2s before his close second in the Golden Slipper at elite level. A Heavy (9) track saw him undone in the Sires’ when seventh last time out back in April, but with firmer going for Saturday fresh he can bounce back. Two lead-up trial wins have him fit and ready to fire fresh for the punters from barrier seven of seven with Blake Shinn aboard.

Vain Stakes Form Guide

The Vain Stakes form guide is released as soon as the field of final acceptors is out the week of the race and features crucial information including the jockeys, trainers, barriers and lead-up runs of the horses in the line-up.

The Vain Stakes form has stacked up in other Melbourne Group races many times in recent years including the Group 2 Danehill Stakes (1200m) at Flemington the next month. Jukebox (2017) recently backing-up from his Vain Stakes success to run second in the Danehill.

In 2011 Sepoy won the Vain Stakes – Danehill Stakes double and also went on to win three more times later in the Carnival including in the Group 1 Manikato Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley and the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) during the Melbourne Cup Carnival.

Giga Kick (2022) was the last three-year-old to do the Vain Stakes – Danehill Stakes double. Giga Kick further franked the Vain Stakes form with a win in that year’s The Everest race, while he returned in 2023 for a host more wins including in the Group 1 All Aged Stakes and Doomben 10,000.

More recently the 2021 Vain Stakes winner Ingratiating went on to run third in that year’s Manikato Stakes trifecta.

Another key race to follow the Vain Stakes form line through to is the lucrative Group 3 Blue Sapphire Stakes (1200m) held on the Wednesday of the Caulfield Cup Carnival. In 2017 the Vain Stakes winner Jukebox ran second in the Blue Sapphire, while Tony Nicconi ran third in the race a year later following his Vain Stakes success in 2018.

2023 Vain Stakes Form Guide

A link to our comprehensive Ladbrokes’ Vain Stakes 2023 Form Guide will be provided for punters below the week of the race.

Vain Stakes Results

The Vain Stakes race results have been dominated by single-figure favourites with the most notable recent Vain Stakes winners being Sepoy (2011);  Russian Revolution (2016) who went on to win the Group 1 The Galaxy (2017) and Group 1 Oakleigh Plate (2018); and Bivouac (2019) who won that season’s Golden Rose Stakes (2019); and the following year’s Newmarket Handicap (2020).

Subsequent The Everest winner Giga Kick set a new Vain Stakes race record in 2022 winning in 1 minute 02.8 seconds.

Past Vain Stakes Winners

Recent Vain Stakes winners and place-getters dating back to the year 2011 are detailed in the below table.