British trainer William Muir is aiming to get recent Lingfield winner Pyledriver to the Saudi Cup meeting next year, where he would be up for the $20million Group 1 showpiece race and the $1.5million Group 3 Neom Turf Cup.

The four-year-old landed the Listed Churchill Stakes at the all-weather track on Saturday on his first run since winning the Coronation Cup on Oaks Day at Epsom in June.

Muir, who trains in partnership with Chris Grassick, will now send Pyledriver for the Hong Kong Vase on Dec. 12 before a possible tilt at the world鈥檚 most valuable race at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh on Feb. 26.

Pyledriver missed his intended big-race summer targets with a pulled muscle, meaning he heads into a worldwide campaign as a relatively fresh horse.

鈥淗is Lingfield win was exactly what we wanted to happen, probably a little bit more,鈥� Muir said. 鈥淥ur plan, to start with, was to go to Germany for the Group 1 Grosser Preis von Bayern the previous week. We knew he would be competitive but we also knew he wasn鈥檛 100 percent fit. With the long journey on a horse box and the race, it might just have taken the edge off him.

鈥淭he Churchill Stakes wasn鈥檛 ideal 鈥� we had to give away a 7lbs penalty 鈥� but we thought it would be better as a prep race,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he race went perfectly 鈥� it was a great performance. He鈥檚 taken it well and come out of the race fantastically.鈥�

The frustrations of his summer campaign 鈥� when he was ruled out of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes just days before the prestigious Ascot contest 鈥� could turn out to be a blessing in disguise as Pyledriver embarks on his globetrotting adventures.

鈥淚t was frustrating but it wasn鈥檛 worrying because it wasn鈥檛 really an injury, it was more of a niggle,鈥� said Muir. 鈥淏ecause he鈥檚 such a good horse, you could have turned a niggle into a big problem if we hadn鈥檛 done exactly what was right to do.

鈥淚 think he鈥檇 have gone very close in the King George. The last piece of work he did before the race was unbelievable, the way he looked and travelled. Maybe, it was meant to be, and this winter campaign is where it happens.

鈥淲e had planned in our minds that we would give him a break after the King George but it would鈥檝e still been very tight. If we鈥檇 have won that, we would鈥檝e probably said 鈥榳e鈥檒l have a go for the Juddmonte International at York,鈥� so we鈥檇 have had to stop then in August to give him a break. Would we have got back for Hong Kong? I don鈥檛 know. This way, we鈥檙e definitely on target, we鈥檙e in great shape and we鈥檙e ready to go.鈥�

Pyledriver had a successful season last year when he won the Group 2 King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot before landing the Group 2 Great Voltigeur at York in August.

His biggest victories have come over distances around 2400m but he had little trouble dropping down to 2000m for the Churchill Stakes. The Saudi Cup, at 1800m on dirt, is shorter still, but Muir is not overly concerned about a possible switch of surface.

鈥淭hey reckon it鈥檚 the nicest dirt track in the world,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 talked to David Egan and Ted Voute (Prince Faisal鈥檚 racing manager) who was out there last year and they both said it was a lovely surface. It鈥檚 not like the dirt tracks in America and Ted said our horse would love it.

鈥淓verything we鈥檝e thrown at Pyledriver, he鈥檚 taken, so I would be confident enough that he鈥檇 handle it. The nine-furlongs (1800m) of the Saudi Cup is the only sort of nagging concern.

鈥淎fter we finished third in the St Leger last year, I was at pains to say that we would have rather dropped back to a mile-and-a-quarter (2000m) than step up to a mile-and-three-quarters (2800m). He鈥檚 got so many gears, but we had a go, it was a British Classic and we had a go.

鈥淭he Saudi Cup meeting fits in with our time plan. At this moment in time, we鈥檙e looking to go to Hong Kong, Saudi, then we鈥檒l go on to the Sheema Classic in Dubai. The Saudi Cup is attractive as it鈥檚 the richest race in the world but it鈥檚 one step at a time.鈥�