[attach id=244806 size="medium"]Jockey Joel Rosario and Animal Kingdom leaving the racetrack in Dubai on Saturday.[/attach]

Animal Kingdom is set to weave his magic at Royal Ascot in the summer after seeing off the gallant challenge of Red Cadeaux to lift the Dubai World Cup on Saturday.

The 2011 Kentucky Derby hero was ridden by Joel Rosario as Animal Kingdom showed a very smart turn of foot two furlongs from home to effectively put the race to bed.

Ed Dunlop’s Red Cadeaux rattled home from the back of the pack but while he was closing all the way to the line, the prize was never going to be lost for the Graham Motion-trained winner.

US-based, Cambridge-born Motion said: “The race reminded me of when he won the Kentucky Derby and apart from a brief moment at the three-pole I was really pleased with the way everything was working out.

“I talked to Joel after the UAE Derby and I told him based on what I had seen in that race he needed to be close and it was important for him to break well.

“That’s not really his style but he is good enough to produce when you take him out of his game, as we had to do. He’s just an extraordinary animal.

“Joel seemed to have so much and when this horse went clear he did it with supreme confidence.”

Animal Kingdom is now expected to take his chance at Royal Ascot, with the Prince of Wales’s Stakes the likely target. Coral make the son of Leroidesanimaux a 5-1 chance to win any race at the showpiece fixture.

Barry Irwin, of winning owners Team Valor, said: “Animal Kingdom has had two freak injuries and overcome both, but his prep race was so confusing it should have knocked him out completely. But he came back as fit as he has ever been.

“He’s a very unique horse.

“He ships to England this week and now it is over to Graham, who has another major challenge in how do you take a horse to England and run him there quite quickly after winning in Dubai.”

Rosario said: “Turning for home he was going so easily. I tried to get him to relax and he felt really so much at home all the way, it was awesome the way he picked up.

“Earlier in the race I knew there would not be a lot of pace so I decided to let him go.”

As last year, Planteur was third for Marco Botti, with the Andrew Balding-trained Side Glance a career-best fourth.