Mutakayyef likely to head straight to Royal Ascot after Dubai effort

Mutakayyef is likely to head straight to the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot following a creditable effort at Meydan on Saturday.Making his first appearance since being narrowly denied by the great mare Tepin in Canada last September, the William Haggas-trained six-year-old was not beaten far into fifth place in the Dubai Turf.Connections feel the son of Sea The Stars, who was third in the Juddmonte International to Postponed, was unsuited by the rain-softened ground and are looking forward to campaigning him back on home turf in the summer.Angus Gold, racing manager for owner Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum, said: "We know he doesn't like that sort of ground, so I think he ran well, considering."Jim (Crowley) said he was a bit gassy and a bit keen, but it was his first run for a while."He travelled very well through the race, he just couldn't pick up on that ground, which is nobody's fault."Hopefully he comes back in one piece and I think the plan would be to go straight to Ascot for the Queen Anne."Another Sheikh Hamdan-owned runner who struggled to produce his best in the conditions on World Cup night was the top-class sprinter Ertijaal.Having impressed on his two previous starts at the track this year, the Oasis Dream gelding was favourite for the Al Quoz Sprint, but had to make do with minor honours in third place.While not ruling out a European campaign this season, Gold expects Ertijaal to remain in the UAE."I thought he ran a great race. Five furlongs is probably better for him than six, but having said that, he didn't look to be going flat out and travelled within himself in front," said Gold."Jim just said he couldn't shake them off on the ground and I think he's done well to hang on for third in the end."I haven't spoken to Sheikh Hamdan about it yet, but the horse has obviously been a bit of a star in Dubai in the last couple of years. Whether he'd want him to bring him over to Europe, I'm not sure."He might just want to keep him fresh to run in Dubai again next year."