In the following year he was mainly campaigned at sprint distances and established himself as one of the fastest three-year-olds in Europe with wins in the Cork and Orrery Stakes and Prix de l'Abbaye.
He was even better as a four-year-old, when he was rated the best sprinter in Europe after winning the July Cup (on the disqualification of Marinsky), the Diadem Stakes and a second Prix de l'Abbaye (in course record time).
Adam went on to establish himself as an expert trainer of speed horses, becoming known as the "King of the Sprinters" before being forced to retire due to the effects multiple sclerosis in the early 1980s.
After a break of three months he appeared in the Tyldesley Nursery, a handicap race for two-year-olds at Haydock Park Racecourse and won by one and a half lengths under a light weight.
In September he was moved up sharply in class for the Laurent Perrier Champagne Stakes over seven furlongs at Doncaster in which he was matched against a field which included the season's leading British-trained two-year-old Wollow.
[1] In the early part of his three-year-old season, Gentilhombre was tried over longer distances, finishing third to Wollow in the Greenham Stakes at Newbury Racecourse and unplaced behind the same colt in the 2000 Guineas over a mile at Newmarket on 28 April.
He finished sixth behind the year's leading sprinter Lochnager in the July Cup, fifth behind the same horse in the William Hill Sprint Championship at York and fifth behind Honeyblest in the Diadem Stakes.
In a very close finish the English colt was adjudged to have dead-heated with the French-trained four-year-old Mendip Man with Raga Navarro a head and a neck away in third and fourth.
In their annual Racehorses of 1975 the independent Timeform organisation claimed that a viewing of the photo finish print indicated that Gentilhombre had narrowly but clearly won the race.
Gentilhombre led from the start but Marinsky overtook him in the closing stages, bumping him in the process and won by a length and a half, with Mandrake Major finishing third.
The other runners included Madang (Premio Melton, Prix du Gros Chêne), Karosa, Haveroid (William Hill Sprint Championship), Raga Navarro and King of Macedon.
After running poorly on his debut he showed some signs of his previous ability when finishing a close fifth in the Duke of York Stakes, despite looking less than fully fit.
[6] There was no International Classification of European two-year-olds in 1975: the official handicappers of Britain, Ireland and France compiled separate rankings for horses which competed in those countries.