A YORK hairdresser has told of his amazement after his 'superstar racehorse' finished second in one of the top races at York Racecourse's Sky Bet Ebor Festival.

But Terry Smith, who is in a syndicate which owns The Platinum Queen, revealed that he was just too busy at his Classic Cutz salon in Fourth Avenue, Tang Hall, to be able to go along to the course and cheer her on.

He said The Platinum Queen made all the running in the Group 1 Nunthorpe race on Friday afternoon before just getting beaten by Highfield Princess.

He said the horse, which is trained by Malton trainer Richard Flahey, had previously smashed the course record at Glorious Goodwood, making her the fastest two-year-old filly seen so far in England and Ireland.

He said her performance on Friday had been 'amazing' and resulted in £115,000 in prize money for coming second.

"We got our £40,000 supplement money back that we paid to enter her, plus another £75,000, so it wasn't a bad day at the office!

"We used all the £40,000 prize money we had won from her winning three out of her four previous races so far this season.

"I don't know how much I will get until the end of the season when all the accounts are done.

"She's entered in a big group 1 race at Longchamp in Paris later in the season and she will run in some other big group races in England before that, so we are going to have loads of fun with her."

A report on Friday's race in Sports News Now referred to the 'lightly-weighted The Platinum Queen blasting out and setting a scorching pace,' but said her 'greenness' showed in the closing stages, as she was 'wandering around,' allowing Highfield Princess to pounce.

It said: "Hollie Doyle and The Platinum Queen blasted out the stalls and with a featherweight it was always going to be hard for the others to reel her in. She had upwards of 22lbs in-hand from the rest with her 2yo allowance and that was a big advantage."

It said her 'light burden' saw off 13 rivals, but not Highfield Princess.

"She also ran about a bit in the closing stages, to show her inexperience, but it was still some performance from a 2 year-old and the Richard Fahey camp will have plenty to look forward to with her in the coming seasons."

Terry told in June how the horse had won her first race at Ripon just before the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations got underway.

He said it was a brilliant performance first time out and a 'fitting tribute' to the Queen.