Ruler Of The World is on course to return to the scene of his finest hour, with next month's Investec Coronation Cup at Epsom his intended target.
The four-year-old won the Investec Derby last term but failed to strike gold in four subsequent outings, although he finished a creditable third behind Farhh when dropped back to 10 furlongs in the Champion Stakes on his final 2013 outing.
Al Shaqab Racing snapped up a 50 per cent share in the Aidan O'Brien-trained colt ahead of his run in the Dubai World Cup earlier this year and are now joint-owners with the Coolmore team.
While that investment did not pay immediate dividends, with Ruler Of The World only 13th of the 16 runners at Meydan, Al Shaqab racing advisor Harry Herbert believes the style of the race just did not suit.
He said: "The plan is to go for the Coronation Cup at Epsom.
"Having acted around the track before in winning last year's Derby, it seems the obvious race for him. That was the plan Aidan drew up two or three weeks ago and I haven't heard of any changes.
"I think the World Cup just didn't suit him. We saw how strung out the field were, some horses can handle that and some can't. It was a shame, as he seemed in good form going into the race.
"He is not a horse I know well yet, but looking at him in the paddock, you would have to have been really pleased with the way he looked and we'll go back to Epsom now."
