21 VAIN HIS GLORIOUS SPRING OF 1969 Vain as a sprinter came onto the track three times in Cup Week 1969, against the fastest of his day, and demoralised them three times. His is a special achievement of a different kind. Australian bred, sired by imported French stallion Wilkes from successful race mare, Elated, Vain quickly became a Melbourne hero, locally owned, trained and ridden. A handsome chestnut colt, he was raced by three Johnson brothers, Walter, George and Fred, trained at Epsom by Jim Moloney and ridden in all his wins by the popular Pat Hyland. As a two-year-old, Vain burst onto the scene. He won his first five including the historic Maribyrnong Plate at Flemington on Derby Day 1968 by a stunning eight lengths. In autumn he took the Merson Cooper at Caulfield by four lengths, the race that became the Blue Diamond, followed by an easy win in the VRC Sires’ Produce. Taken to Sydney for the Golden Slipper at Rosehill, Vain was breathtaking. Local favourite Special Girl, with George Moore riding, was never in the picture. Then came a narrow shock defeat on a wet track over 7 furlongs (1408m) at Randwick. Vain returned to Randwick a week later to win the 6 furlong (1207m) AJC Champagne Stakes—by ten lengths, in race record time. By the start of Melbourne Cup Week 1969 his tally had reached nine wins. These included the one-mile Caulfield Stakes where he turned the tables on New Zealand colt Daryl’s Joy who previously had beaten him in the Moonee Valley Stakes. Daryl’s Joy proved himself a champion: he won that year’s Cox Plate and Victoria Derby. Vain, meanwhile, kept to the sprints, and the results were astonishing. The three races he won that week at Flemington have since shifted shape. The first was the feature 6 furlong open sprint on Derby Day, a race subsequently rescheduled to Champions Day as the VRC Champions Sprint. It originated in the early 1960s, first sponsored by tobacco companies, with later changes of name. On its honour roll are Century, River Rough, Takeover Target and Black Caviar. When Vain won, he blitzed the field. Yes, blitzed: twelve lengths to the second horse. His next appearance was on Oaks Day. The Linlithgow Stakes was 7 furlongs, weight-for-age. Its star-studded lineage traced back to the 1860s. Carbine won it twice, the prolific Gladsome, twice, Phar Lap in 1930. Still on Oaks Day, it is now the Damien Oliver Handicap. Vain won by six lengths and broke the course record. The third triumph, on the final Saturday, was in the race now called the VRC Champions Mile. In 1969 it was the George Adams Handicap. Its history dates to 1919. This was Vain’s first test over a mile against older horses, a stellar field. He won easily, carrying a 5 pound penalty.
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