South African trainer Herman Brown has purchased 2009 Argentine Derby winner Storm Chispazo on behalf of Chechnya president Ramzan Kadyrov.

Brown visited Australia with the Kadyrov owned stayer Mourilyan during the spring carnival and the Desert Prince gelding collected $420,000 for finishing third in the Melbourne Cup.

Australian Greens leader Bob Brown said the prizemoney should have been held by the Federal Government due to concerns it might be used to fund Kadyrov’s dictatorship.

Kadyrov wasn’t at Flemington for the Cup.  He watched the race from the Chechen capital, Grozny.

Storm Chispazo (3c Bernstein – Chimera by Fitzcarraldo) won a lead-up to the classic by 12 lengths at San Isidro on October 31.  He followed up with a last-to-first victory in the G1 Gran Premio Nacional (Argentine Derby) at Palermo on November 14.  The three length Derby victory was his third in five starts.

Storm Chispazo will join Brown in Dubai along with the Kadyrov owned gallopers Mourilyan, Bronze Cannon, Racecar Rhapsody and Bankable.

Storm Chispazo will then be set for Moscow’s President’s Cup.  Kadyrov is keen to win the most prestigious race in Russia after finishing fourth with Bronze Cannon (Lemon Drop Kid) earlier this year.

Monomakh (Mineshaft) stamped himself as the best horse in Russia after winning the 2009 President’s Cup.  The USA bred colt had won the 2008 Russian Derby ahead of the Kadyrov owned Racecar Rhapsody.

Racecar Rhapsody (Tale of the Cat) had finished third in the 2007 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs and fourth in the 2008 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico.

Sheikh Mohammed’s scouts purchased leading Argentine filly Dear Bela last week but were rumoured to have passed up the opportunity to buy Storm Chispazo.

Dear Bela (3f Indygo Shiner – Dear Bela by Southern Halo) was runner-up to to Kalath Wells (Poliglote) in the G1 Argentine Oaks on November 14.  She is bred similarly to 2009 UAE 1000 Guineas winner So Shiny and will be set for the Meydan classics in March.