Mutakayyef is likely to head straight to Royal Ascot for the Queen Anne Stakes after connections offered excuses for his Meydan defeat.
Having missed his intended prep run in the Winter Derby at Lingfield, the six-year-old was making his first appearance since being narrowly denied by the smart mare Tepin last September.
And having not been beaten far into fifth place in the Dubai Turf, William Haggas' team 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.”
Third in the Juddmonte International and Woodbine Mile, the Group 2 winner was forced to miss February's Winter Derby at Lingfield after he sustained a foot abscess.
