Heshem's victory in Paris' Prix Eugene Adam is third win in row

Heshem, a 7-1 shot, extended his winning streak to three with a minor upset in Sunday’s $143,780 Prix Eugene Adam for 3-year-olds at Maisons-Laffitte racecourse in Paris.

The Group 2 Prix Eugene Adam was the first stakes win for Heshem, who had not raced since winning an allowance race at Chantilly in April. The colt, an Irish-bred by Footstepsinthesand, has won 3 of 4 starts for Al Shaqab Racing.

Ridden by Gregory Benoist for trainer Christopher Ferland, Heshem closed from the middle of a field of 10 to take the lead in the final furlong. The colt won by three-quarters of a length over Ultra, the 8-5 favorite who was beaten for the first time in his fourth start. Ultra won the Group 1 Prix Jean Luc-Lagardere for 2-year-olds last October. The Prix Eugene Adam was Ultra’s first start of 2016.

Spectroscope, a Kentucky-bred by Medaglia d’Oro, finished third in his stakes debut. Owned by Godolphin Racing, Spectroscope was purchased for $325,000 at the 2014 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

The field bunched into two groups shortly after the start of the race at 1 1/4 miles on turf. The first four finishers were part of a group that ran closest to the grandstand. Craven’s Legend, who finished fifth, had the best result of the two horses that raced on the far rail.

Heshem is a candidate for the $440,000 Prix Guillaume D’Ornaro, a Group 2 for 3-year-olds at 1 1/4 miles on turf at Deauville on Aug. 15.

* In Sunday’s $132,270 Minstrel Stakes for sprinters at The Curragh in Ireland, the 8-year-old gelding Gordon Lord Byron won the ninth stakes of his career in his 61st start.

Ridden by Billy Lee, Gordon Lord Byron, 16-1, won the Group 2 Minstrel Stakes at seven furlongs by a half-length over Sovereign Debt, a 7-2 co-favorite in the field of nine. Gordon Lord Byron was always close to the pace and took the lead in the final sixteenth.

Sovereign Debt finished 1 1/4 lengths in front of Toscanini, an 8-1 shot. Dick Whittington, the other co-favorite at 7-2, finished seventh.

Gordon Lord Byron, by Byron, won the Minstrel Stakes in 2015 when the race was recognized as a Group 3. Owned by Cyrus Poonawalla and Morgan Cahalan, Gordon Lord Byron has won three Group 1 races - the 2012 Prix de la Foret at Longchamp in France, the 2013 Betfred Sprint Cup at Haydock Racecourse in England, and the 2014 George Ryder Stakes at Rosehill Racecourse in Australia.

Gordon Lord Byron has won 15 races.