He has since sired 500 individual winners, including the top class winners Slight Chance, Kinjite, Kapchat, Stella Cadente, Foxwood, Cordero, Pernod, Centisle, Sixty Seconds, Perfect World and Arletty.
Centaine, one of New Zealand's best stallions of the past two decades, died at Waikato Stud on April 19, according to the Australian Associated Press.The 24-year-old stallion had been one of Australasia's most dominant stallions since he began his stud career in 1985. He met immediate success by becoming New Zealand's champion first season sire and from that point continued to sire a long list of top gallopers, reaching a highpoint when he was champion New Zealand sire (Australia and New Zealand earnings combined) in 1992-93.Latest figures credit him with 57 individual stakes winners, including 12 at the group I level.That success has been further enhanced by his record as a broodmare sire. His daughters have produced 30 stakes winners, including six group I winners.An indication of Centaine's reputation was the popularity of his daughters' progeny at last week's record breaking Australian Easter Yearling in Sydney. The Danehill colt from Centaine's New Zealand Two Thousand Guineas winner Foxwood sold for $1.1 million (New Zealands funds), $675,000 was paid for a Stravinsky filly from Procure, $340,000 for a Zabeel filly from Ever Clever, and $210,000 for a Carnegie colt from Escada.Centaine, bred in Australia in 1980, was by Better Boy's noted son Century from the top class Vain race filly Rainbeam. He earned a high rating among the best of his age as a 3-year-old, being a group winner of six races from 1,000 meters to 1,600 meters before he was sold to New Zealand stud interests.
