Kadyrov Shows Off His Horses

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov basked in the successes of his racehorses at the Central Moscow Hippodrome over the weekend — even though his most prized acquisition placed a disappointing fourth.

His U.S.-bred mare Tame View won the National Horsebreeding Union’s prize, snatching 500,000 rubles ($15,700) in prize money, Kadyrov?€™s press service said in a statement posted on his web site Sunday.

His Indian Jameson stallion won the honor prize for the Moscow Hippodrome?€™s 175th anniversary, worth 150,000 rubles.

But his favorite-ranked horse, a four-year-old brown thoroughbred named Bronze Cannon, only made it to fourth place in the President?€™s Cup, the most prestigious contest of the day. The 3.5 million ruble ($110,000) prize went to Monomakh of the Donskoi stables in the southern Rostov region.

Bronze Cannon took away 210,000 rubles, probably a trifle considering the horse?€™s worth. The U.S.-bred stallion won the prestigious Hardwicke Stakes race held at Ascot, England last month.

Kadyrov bought the horse from Anthony Oppenheimer, a long-time senior executive with the De Beers diamond conglomerate, Britain?€™s Racing Post newspaper reported on its web site.

In Britain, thoroughbred racehorses on average sold for £107,000 ($175,000) last year, although prices fell by more than 20 percent this year, London?€™s Independent on Sunday newspaper reported in April.

The horse races were held in stylish form at the 19th-century hippodrome on Begovaya Ulitsa and were overseen by President Dmitry Medvedev, who played host to CIS leaders at an informal summit.

Although his republic is a subject of the Russian Federation, Kadyrov was conspicuously present at the event, which also included two other controversial Caucasus leaders, Abkhaz president Sergei Bagapsh and South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity.

Kadyrov, who has been president since February 2007 and has been accused of running war-ravaged Chechnya like a private fiefdom, has been known for collecting race horses and driving fancy, foreign-made cars.

In line with a Kremlin-led anti-corruption drive, he gave his first income declaration in May, saying he earned 3.5 million rubles ($110,000) last year and that his only personal property consisted of a tiny three-room apartment covering 36 square meters in Grozny and a VAZ-21053 car.

Komsomolskaya Pravda reported over the weekend that Kadyrov had sent 11 horses to start at the Hippodrome races. Among them was an Irish-bred stallion named Tsentoroi after his native village.

Kadyrov?€™s spokesman Alvi Karimov on Sunday refused to give any information on the president?€™s racehorses. Reached on his cell phone, he said he was just about to board a plane to Grozny and had to check with his superiors there first.

In an earlier interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda, Kadyrov said the horses belong to the Chechen republic rather than to him personally.

But Kadyrov?€™s press service in Saturday?€™s statement explicitly referred to the horses as belonging to Kadyrov.

This spring, Dubai police detained one of Kadyrov?€™s horse trainers on suspicion of involvement in the killing of Sulim Yamadayev, a former rebel commander who fell out with Kadyrov.

Bronze Cannon was being sent back to Britain on Sunday together with trainer John Gosden, Oppenheimer?€™s racing manager Hugo Lascelles, said by telephone from Essex, England.