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.

Run under set weights plus penalties conditions the race takes place over a short sprint distance of 1100m and offers $160,000 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 latest edition of the Vain Stakes ran on Saturday August 15, 2020 and saw an upset result with a fast finishing effort by Our Playboy. 

2020 Vain Stakes Results

The official Vain Stakes 2020 Results & Finishing Order will be announced below once the Group 3 race is run and won on Saturday August 15, 2020.

• 1st: #4 Our Playboy
• 2nd: #5 Ranting
• 3rd: #3 Rulership

Our Playboy ($12) showed nice improvement ahead of the spring majors with a brilliant late burst in the 2020 Vain Stakes results to defeat the better fancied Ranting ($6) and Rulership ($2.40) who ran third as the beaten favourite.

Colour	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	4	OUR PLAYBOY	Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr)	Ben Melham		8	56kg		$12
	2	5	RANTING (NZ)	Leon & Troy Corstens	Dwayne Dunn	1L	6	56kg		$6
	3	3	RULERSHIP	Peter & Paul Snowden	Damian Lane	2.25L	3	56kg		$2.40F
	4	7	BRANDERS RULE	Peter G Moody	Luke Nolen	2.35L	2	56kg		$18
	5	2	LARIMER STREET	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Damien Oliver	3.1L	5	57kg		$9.50
	6	1	LUNAR FOX	Paul Preusker	Jordan Childs	3.2L	1	58kg		$19
	7	9	KEEP ON FIGHTING	Gerard Moloney	Patrick Moloney	4.2L	7	56kg		$51
	8	8	THE CRUISER	Frankie Stockdale	Arron Lynch	4.95L	4	56kg		$21
	9	6	HYDRO STAR	John McArdle	Jamie Mott	5.45L	9	56kg		$4.80

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

Vain Stakes Race Info

• Date: Saturday August 15, 2020
• Track: Caulfield
• Distance: 1100m
• Conditions: 3YO Colts & Geldings – Set weights plus Penalties
• Status: Group 3
• Prize Money: $160,000
• 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) was the last favourite in Vain Stakes betting to salute for the punters.

2020 Vain Stakes Odds

The best P.B. Lawrence Stakes Day betting markets on the Group 3 Vain Stakes 2020 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.

2020 Vain Stakes Field

The official Vain Stakes 2020 Final Field & Barrier Draw for the Coolmore Stud Stakes spring lead-up will be published below following acceptances.

Group 2 winning Foxwedge colt Lunar Fox leads the nine-horse 2020 Vain Stakes field, the top weight drawn the inside alley and facing a quality line-up of rivals including Hydro Star and Rulership.

No	Last 10	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Barrier	Weight	Penalty	Hcp Rating
1	5x52116x	LUNAR FOX	Paul Preusker	Jordan Childs	1	58kg		80
2	23210x	LARIMER STREET	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	Damien Oliver	5	57kg		79
3	1284x	RULERSHIP	Peter & Paul Snowden	Damian Lane	3	56kg		75
4	6x611x	OUR PLAYBOY	Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr)	Ben Melham	8	56kg		67
5	23x	RANTING (NZ)	Leon & Troy Corstens	Dwayne Dunn	6	56kg		65
6	1	HYDRO STAR	John McArdle	Jamie Mott	9	56kg		67
7	1x	BRANDERS RULE	Peter G Moody	Luke Nolen	2	56kg		64
8	3	THE CRUISER	Frankie Stockdale	Arron Lynch	4	56kg		63
9	5	KEEP ON FIGHTING	Gerard Moloney	Patrick Moloney	7	56kg		61

*Table Credit: Racing Australia.

2020 Vain Stakes Nominations

The early Vain Stakes 2020 nominations are taken by Racing Victoria on the Monday of race week and will be detailed below.

Early favourites among the eleven 2020 Vain Stakes nominations include the Peter & Paul Snowden-trained Rulership and James Cummings-trained Jerle for last year’s winning stable (Godolphin).

	Last 10	Horse	Sex	Age	Trainer	Hcp Rating
1	1x0x1	HARD LANDING	C	3	Tom Dabernig & Ben Hayes	80
2	1	HYDRO STAR	C	3	John McArdle	67
3	4x5323126x	JERLE	C	3	James Cummings	66
4	5	KEEP ON FIGHTING	G	3	Gerard Moloney	61
5	23210x	LARIMER STREET	C	3	Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young	79
6	5x52116x	LUNAR FOX	C	3	Paul Preusker	80
7	6x611x	OUR PLAYBOY	C	3	Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr)	67
8	23x	RANTING (NZ)	C	3	Leon & Troy Corstens	65
9	1284x	RULERSHIP	C	3	Peter & Paul Snowden	75
10	3	THE CRUISER	C	3	Frankie Stockdale	63
11	21	TOYETIC	G	3	Anthony & Sam Freedman	64

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.

2020 Vain Stakes Tips

Our Ladbrokes’ insider Vain Stakes 2020 betting tips for the Group 3 on PB Lawrence Stakes Day will be detailed below the week of the race.

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 with 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.

Another key race to follow the Vain Stakes form line through to is the lucrative Group 3 $500,000 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.

2020 Vain Stakes Form Guide

A link to our comprehensive Ladbrokes’ Vain Stakes 2020 Form Guide will be provided for punters below the week of the race.

Vain Stakes Results

The Vain Stakes 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).

Vain Stakes Winners