Vain Stakes
Vain Stakes
Group Three Betting Guide
| Date: | Saturday, August 16, 2025 |
| Location: | Caulfield Racecourse – Melbourne, Victoria |
| Prize Money: | $200,000 |
| Distance: | 1100m |
The Group 3 Vain Stakes is a 1100m sprint held at Caulfield Racecourse each year and as of 2026 is worth $200,000.
First run in 1992, the Vain Stakes is restricted to three-year-old colts and geldings and is held on the same day as the Group 3 Quezette Stakes, a race for three-year-old fillies.
The Vain Stakes is used as the beginning for many three year olds heading towards the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) and Group 1 VRC Derby (2500m) campaigns.
In 2022, Giga Kick would claim the Group 3 Vain Stakes on his way to claiming The Everest (1200m) just two runs later.
Notable winners of the Vain Stakes include: Giga Kick (2022), Ingratiating (2021), Bivouac (2019), Russian Revolution (2016), Safeguard (2013), Sepoy (2011), Toorak Toff (2010), Starspangledbanner (2009) and Haradasun (2006).
2025 Vain Stakes Betting Odds
Odds for the Vain Stakes as of August 13 – Courtesy of Neds
- Shining Smile Win $4.00 Place $1.60
- Jimmy Recard Win $5.00 Place $1.80
- Sonofkirk Win $5.00 Place $1.80
- Tycoon Star Win $5.50 Place $1.90
- Mcgaw Win $7.00 Place $2.20
- Express Class Win $10.00 Place $2.80
- Hay Street Win $10.00 Place $2.80
- Shaggy Win $21.00 Place $4.60
Best Vain Stakes bookmakers
All of our top horse betting sites have markets for the Vain Stakes.
Most of the Melbourne Spring Carnival races have markets opened well in advance and the Group 3 Vain Stakes is no exception.
Latest Vain Stakes News
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2025 Vain Stakes Final Field
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Previous Vain Stakes Field
No. Silks Horse Trainer Jockey Barrier Weight 1 
Blue Stratum Tony & Calvin McEvoy Beau Mertens 5 56kg 2 TarpaulinJames CummingsBlake Shinn356kg3 Interest Point David Brideoake & Matt Jenkins Michael Dee 1 56kg 4 Wonder Boy Jerome Hunter Luke Currie 2 56kg 5 Band Of Brothers Mathew Ellerton Damian Lane 4 56kg 6 Winchester Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes Patrick Moloney 6 56kg 7 Let’sfacethemusic Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr) Ethan Brown 7 56kg No. Silks Horse Trainer Jockey Barrier Weight 1 Little Brose Ben, Will & JD Hayes Michael Dee 6 59kg 2 Cylinder James Cummings Blake Shinn 7 58kg 3 Krakarib Simon Zahra Mark Zahra 1 58kg 4 I Am Unstoppable Lloyd Kennewell & Lucy Yeomans Zac Spain 4 57kg 5 Scheelite Ken & Kasey Keys Daniel Stackhouse 2 56kg 6 Ouroboros Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr) Craig Newitt 5 56kg 7 Veecee Ciaron Maher & David Eustace Ethan Brown 3 56kg No. Silks Horse Trainer Jockey Barrier Weight 1 Semillion Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes Jye McNeil 3 58kg 2 Cannonball Anthony & Sam Freedman Mark Zahra 4 57kg 3 Millane Peter Moody Luke Nolen 8 57kg 4 Thron Bone Jerome Hunter Will Price 1 56kg 5 Alpha One Peter & Paul Snowden Damian Lane 6 56kg 6 Giga Kick Clayton Douglas Craig Williams 5 56kg 7 Man In The Mirror Annabel Neasham Jamie Kah 7 56kg 8 SpacewalkJames CummingsBen Melham256kg
2024 Vain Stakes result
1st – Band Of Brothers (+400)
2nd – Let’sfacethemusic (+160)
3rd – Wonder Boy (NTD)
Recent Vain Stakes results
- Matthew Ellerton & Damien Lane combined with Band Of Brothers ($5.50) to claim the Group 3 Vain Stakes (1100m). The son of Omaha Beach proved far too classy in the three-year-old feature, courtesy of a perfectly timed steer by Lane, landing into the one-one throughout the journey to gain the ideal stalking position. He was able to gain the back of Winchester ($15.00) in the middle stages, who was happy to sit outside the leader, as Interest Point ($4.20) cruised along at a genuine tempo under Michael Dee. The race set up nicely for the back markers to come into play, as the eventual winner came with his run, as did Let’sfacethemusic ($4.40), powering down the centre of the course but unable to reel in the unassailable lead of Band Of Brothers. Meanwhile, the well-supported favourite, Wonder Boy ($3.20), was doing his best work late, charging into third, with the Jerome Hunter-trained gelding already looking for a step up in trip. It was all about the winner in the end though, as Band Of Brothers never looked in doubt in claiming the Group 3 feature.
- Cylinder ($1.50) and Ouroboros ($11) have produced one of the best finishes to a race that we have seen in sometime, with the James Cummings-trained colt defeating the Mick Price & Micheal Kent Jnr-trained colt in the Group 3 Vain Stakes. After being set out as a long odds-on favourite with most online bookmakers, many punters would have been worried when Cylinder looked as though he wouldn’t get there; however, Blake Shinn got every little bit out of the son of Exceed And Excel and he got his head down in time. The Golden Slipper runner-up had been given two quiet trials before his fresh start in the Vain Stakes and was considered one of the best bets of the day, but outside of the winner, the runner-up and third-placegetter I Am Unstoppable ($12) will be worth following at their next start. Now that Cylinder has knocked over his first assignment, we wait to find out where the Godolphin team will take him next.
- Clayton Douglas recorded his first stakes win as a trainer after Giga Kick stormed home to take out the Group 3 Vain Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield. The gelded son of Scissor Kick didn’t lead for the first time in his career, but that didn’t stop him from reigning supreme. Sent out as the second favourite behind the in-form Alpha One ($3.10), Giga Kick ($4) and Craig Williams had a job to do in the final stages of the $200,000 race, as the race favourite shot clear on the bend under Damien Lane. It was Giga Kick who got the last laugh though, nailing Alpha One right on the line, while Millane ($9) worked home stylishly into third.
- Despite giving key market rivals Generation ($2.30) and General Beau ($5.50) a start in the Group 3 Vain Stakes, Ingratiating ($3.20) under Damien Oliver, bloused his rivals in emphatic fashion. First-up from a spell since finishing third in the Golden Slipper, Ingratiating was forced to settle at the rear of the field, having drawn the widest barrier (7) in the seven-horse field. However, that was to be no issue, with the colt showing every bit of his Group 1 potential, going on to claim victory by a length to General Beau, with Generation a further nostril away in third.
- Having been sent out as an outsider in a competitive edition of the Vain Stakes, Our Playboy ($13) announced himself as a class sprinting prospect during his three-year-old season. Ridden by Ben Melham, Our Playboy left the likes of Rulership ($2.45) and Hydro Star ($4.80) in his wake as he powered home from the back of the field to win by a length over Ranting ($6).
- Godolphin’s Bivouac made an emphatic statement when claiming the 2019 Group 3 Vain Stakes. Despite going up against just five rivals, Bivouac ($3) put over four-lengths on Sebrakate ($12), with Dirty Work ($26) an eventual six-lengths off the winner. Bivouac’s performance was his first start under raceday conditions since claiming the Group 3 Kindergarten Stakes at Randwick during the previous autumn when getting the better of the class Libertini.
Vain Stakes winners
| Vain Stakes Past Winners | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Horse | Jockey | Trainer |
| 2024 | Band Of Brothers | Damian Lane | Mathew Ellerton |
| 2023 | Cylinder | Blake Shinn | James Cummings |
| 2022 | Giga Kick | Craig Williams | Clayton Douglas |
| 2021 | Ingratiating | Damien Oliver | James Cummings |
| 2020 | Our Playboy | Ben Melham | Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr) |
| 2019 | Bivouac | Hugh Bowman | James Cummings |
| 2018 | Tony Nicconi | Luke Nolen | David & Ben Hayes & Tom Dabernig |
| 2017 | Jukebox | Craig Williams | Ciaron Maher |
| 2016 | Russian Revolution | Mark Zahra | Peter & Paul Snowden |
| 2015 | Gold Symphony | Glen Boss | Peter Moody |
| 2014 | Get The Nod | Joe Bowditch | Lloyd Kennewell |
| 2013 | Safeguard | Kerrin McEvoy | Peter Snowden |
| 2012 | Psychic Mick | Chris Symons | Daniel Clarken |
| 2011 | Sepoy | Kerrin McEvoy | Peter Snowden |
| 2010 | Toorak Toff | Damien Oliver | Rick Hore-Lacy |
| 2009 | Starspangledbanner | Danny Nikolic | Leon Corstens |
| 2008 | Super Boy | Vlad Duric | Leon Corstens |
| 2007 | Shrewd Rhythm | Chris Symons | Greg Eurell |
| 2006 | Haradasun | Nash Rawiller | Tony Vasil |
| 2005 | Red Dazzler | Danny Nikolic | Mick Price |
| 2004 | Zankel | Steven King | Brian Mayfield-Smith |
| 2003 | Happy Strike | Greg Childs | Rick Hore-Lacy |
| 2002 | Delago Boom | Steven Arnold | Tommy Hughes |
| 2001 | North Boy | Damien Oliver | Tony McEvoy |
| 2000 | Surtees | Bruce MacDonald | Jan Bowman |
Vain Stakes winners pre-2000
| Vain Stakes Past Winners Pre 2000 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Horse | ||
| 1999 | Dandy Kid | ||
| 1998 | Splendid Horse | ||
| 1997 | Schubert | ||
| 1996 | Syncopated | ||
| 1995 | Principality | ||
| 1994 | Cannibal King | ||
| 1993 | Star Of Maple | ||
| 1992 | Never Underchange | ||
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