While it may have taken until he turned 5yo to record his first stakes victory, it only took until his very next start to record his second as the Ben, Will and JD Hayes trained Cafe Millenium added Saturday’s Listed VRC Tontonan Stakes (1400m) to his last start Listed SAJC Leon Macdonald Stakes (1400m) win.
Third in the Group 1 ATC Randwick Guineas (1600m) when formerly trained by John O’Shea and Tom Charlton, the gelded son of Not A Single Doubt had his first start for his current training partnership back in May, having won three of his six starts highlighted by consecutive Listed wins since heading south.
With Celine Gaudray partnering the gelding once again, Cafe Millenium was content to settle with just one runner behind him as the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott trained Blue Point mare Gerringong surged forward to take up the running.
Rise At Dawn (NZ) (Almanzor), a stablemate of Cafe Millenium sat handy in second with Tony Gollan’s race favourite Transatlantic (Snitzel) in third.
Starting to make his run before the home turn was reached, Gaudray pulled Cafe Millenium off the rail to start his run, being the widest as the field entered the home straight.
With 300m to run, it was clear Cafe Millenium was a serious chance as he started to wind up, chasing hard to get his head down right on the line to deny Transatlantic victory.
Holding on for third was Rise At Dawn with Gerringong narrowly scraping into the fourth, just ahead of the fast-finishing 80/1 chance Pondalowe (Deep Field).
“It was great to see him get his head down, a terrific ride by Celine. She comes in and does a lot of work for us, especially out of Pakenham, said JD Hayes.
“For her to be rewarded, I'd like to thank Ron Finnemore for rewarding her because she got the job done in Adelaide. She's ridden beautifully, and just a terrific result."
Having had his grounding in NSW, Hayes was complimentary of the job O’Shea and Charlton had down with Cafe Millenium before he joined their stable.
“To be honest, he came down a great product. John O'Shea and Tom Charlton did a great job with him, just a little bit of a change in environment, I think he's found his rhythm here.
“He's been very consistent for us, and he's just getting better with age. So that was a terrific win that gave us a big thrill."
As for where he may now head, Hayes felt there were numerous options for both Café Millenium and Rise At Dawn.
“Very open-minded. We've got a few plans in place, a bit of alternative thinking.
“I thought the stablemate, Rise At Dawn was very brave there too, to hold on at a fast pace. He's just a very, very tough horse that refuses to lay down, and I'm very happy with both horses efforts.
“The Sandown Stakes on Grand Final day. My team's (AFL) knocked out, so I'll be there. But then Cafe Milennium could possibly be a Big Dance horse as well, so we'll just see how the dust settles. Talk with the team as we always do, but they're both on track for a nice spring.”
Bred and raced by Ron Finemore and John Leaver’s Planette Thoroughbreds, Cafe Millenium was foaled at Newhaven Park Stud.
Cafe Millennium is the lone winner from two to the races out of the 2yo winning High Chaparral mare Veloce Forte, herself a half-sister to the Group 2 MVRC Moonee Valley Classic winner and Group 1 Queen Of The Turf runner-up Gypsy Diamond and also to the dual Listed-winning, Group 3 placed Miraval Rose (Grunt).
Veloce Forte has had a chequered breeding career since foaling Cafe Millenium, with the next named foal being the unraced 2yo colt Forte Fatale (Needs Further) in the John O'Shea and Tom Charlton yard with the mare missing in the subsequent two breeding seasons.
It is a family that has also caught the attention of Yulong in recent years with the Victorian based farm securing Gypsy Diamond, along with her dam Gypsy Tucker from 2018 Inglis Chairman’s Sale paying $1.8m and $800,000 respectively for the pair.
Gypsy Tucker has since gone on to produce the stakes winner Miraval Rose, while Gypsy Diamond has produced the promising 4yo Blue Vein (Blue Point), while the unraced 3yo colt Prince Of Sparta (Written Tycoon) is in the stable of Ciaron Maher.
Cafe Millenium is one of 85 stakes winner for Arrowfield Stud’s Not A Single Doubt, who is represented by six sons at stud this season including Newgate Farm’s Extreme Choice and Kia Ora Stud’s Farnan.
