SOUTHAMPTON businessman Jeff Smith enjoyed his greatest moment as an owner/breeder when Arabian Queen provided the shock of the season in the Juddmonte International at York today.

The three-year-old filly defied a persistent challenge from the unbeaten Derby winner Golden Horn to grab the 10 furlong Group One race, the highlight of the four day Ebor meeting.

Smith looked as stunned as every other racegoer when his diminuative but talented filly, who he bred at his Littleton Stud near Winchester, sprang a 50/1 upset in a race that is a notorious graveyard for favourites.

Never has Jockey Silvestre De Sousa spoken a truer word.

He had been impressed by Arabian Queen, the only filly in the race, when she finished third in the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood after stepping to 10 furlongs for the first time and predicted: "She could surprise one or two."

Smith, chairman of the AI M Group, was constantly looking round for David Elsworth who trained at Whitsbury, near Fordingbridge, before moving to his current base at Newmarket.

"I just hope I find him before he expires," he quipped.

Arabian Queen had inherited her battling qualities from her mother Dubawi who won the Lancashire Oaks, despite having only one eye.

Smith, who has owned the doughty stayer Persian Punch, the top class sprinter Lochsong and the brilliant miler Chief Singer, said of Arabian Queen: "She's a filly on an upward curve. She's an athlete with a wonderful temperament. She loves to race and wants to win."

Arabian Queen is entered in the Mares and Fillies race at Ascot on Champions Day in October but Smith's first inclination is not to run her. ""That's probably it until next year."

Jockey Frankie Dettori said of Golden Horn, he said: "He laboured. He didn't show his trademark turn of foot but that's racing. It's great shame."