Daniel and Claire Kubler’s Astro King will fly the flag for his upwardly-mobile stable in the Neom Turf Cup at Riyadh on Saturday.

The gelding had a successful campaign last season, winning two good handicap pots in both the Sky Bet Finale at York and the Cambridgeshire at Newmarket.

There was also a near-miss as the horse was narrowly outdone in the John Smith’s Cup on the Knavesmire in July, and at the end of the season he headed out to the Middle East to contest the Group Two Bahrain International Trophy.

The seven-year-old had a luckless passage through the race when trapped on the inside rail, but he still ran with credit in sixth and set a precedent for further travel after taking the journey in his stride.

With that in mind, his first start this year will be in the Neom Turf Cup at the Saudi Cup meeting, a race upgraded from Group Three to Group Two status and run for an exceptional prize fund of $2million.

Daniel Kubler reports the bay to have landed in the desert in good form and though his draw in stall 11 is less than ideal, he is still hopeful the horse will do the yard proud at the meeting.

“He travelled over to Saudi last Saturday and he seems to have travelled very well,” he said.

“We’re looking forward to it, I understand he’s been drawn in stall 11 and we would have preferred a bit lower but there’s not much we can do about it.

“We haven’t overly pushed him but we’re happy with how he’s trained going into it, his preparation has been pretty similar to when he went to Bahrain and we were pretty happy with how he ran there.

“He was a little bit unlucky with how the race panned out but hopefully he’ll have a bit more luck in running this time and he can come home with some prize-money – the money out there is pretty ridiculous!”

Sir Alex Ferguson will have the chance to secure further international honours after Richard Fahey confirmed his Spirit Dancer is on course for the Neom Turf Cup in Saudi Arabia later this month.

The former Manchester United manager was no stranger to glory overseas during his time in the dugout and alongside co-owners Peter Done and Ged Mason saw Spirit Dancer collect £500,000 when victorious in the Bahrain International Trophy in November.

The seven-year-old has since tuned up for his outing in Riyadh by finishing fourth in the Jebel Hatta at Meydan and Fahey is confident that will put him spot on for the $2million event on February 24.

“I was delighted to get that run in Dubai into him,” said Fahey.

“We were pleased with the run and we were probably just drawn a little bit wide – hopefully the run will put him 100 per cent right for Saudi.

“We’re going to run in the Neom. I was keen to go for the big one there (Saudi Cup), but I just felt nine furlongs on the dirt would be sharp enough for him. He’s a horse I would probably want to go a mile and a half in Saudi rather than a sharp nine, if that makes sense.”

Spirit Dancer’s owners revelled in their Bahrain success before Christmas, with Ferguson describing it as his “best ever” victory as an owner.

All of the son of Frankel’s ownership trio appear keen on another visit to the Middle East, with Fahey predicting a strong showing from his charge in the extended 10-furlong turf contest.

“Barring problems I’m sure his owners are very keen,” continued Fahey.

“Peter Done and Ged Mason are both very keen and Sir Alex is keen as well, so it looks like they are booking and barring problems I would say they will probably be there.

“We certainly enjoyed Bahrain and anything now is a bonus, but we’re expecting him to run a big race in Saudi.”