Simon Crisford was thrilled to see Sporting Chance open his account at Pattern level at Maisons-Laffitte on Monday.
Following creditable efforts in the July Stakes at Newmarket and the Richmond Stakes at Goodwood, the Kodiac colt made the most of having his sights lowered when landing the Ripon Champion Two Yrs Old Trophy late last month.
He stepped back up in class for the Group Three Prix Eclipse and knuckled down well under Silvestre de Sousa to see off the fellow British challenger Space Traveller, trained by Richard Fahey, by a shade over a length.
Archie Watson's Showout was fourth.
Crisford said: "I'm delighted with that. It was a really good effort.
"The race went exactly to plan and he's running to a very good level at the moment.
"He's always been an honest horse who wears his heart on his sleeve, he seems to be improving and that was a career-best performance.
"There's a Group Two over the same course and distance in mid-October, so we might have a look at that."
The other Group Three on the card was the La Coupe de Maisons-Laffitte.
British hopes in this 10-furlong contest rested on Harry Dunlop's Robin Of Navan, who had to make do with the runner-up spot behind the Henri-Francois Devin-trained Golden Legend.
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