The Grand Prix de Bourgogne, which took place Sunday afternoon (Dec. 29) at Vincennes, was won by 16-1 shot Billie de Montfort and driver Gabriele Gelormini.

Billie de Montfort captured the Prix de Bourgogne before a robust crowd at Vincennes. Gerard Forni photo.

Billie de Montfort, who is trained by Sebastian Guarato, won the third elimination for the Prix d’Amerique by 1-1/2 lengths in a 1.53.3 mile rate, followed by Bahia Quesnot (Junior Guelpa) and Vivid Wise As (Björn Goop).

Billie de Montfort’s stablemate Bold Eagle and driver Eric Raffin were prominent from the start and in command round the last corner, where they opened up to be more than three lengths ahead of the field.

However, going down the stretch, Bold Eagle faded and just managed to finish fifth.

Winner Billie de Montfort is an 8-year-old French mare. With today’s purse for the winner of $55,000, she now has lifetime earnings of $2.3 million.

As Billie de Montfort already had qualified to race in the Prix d’Amerique, only two invitations were handed out today: Bahia Quesnot and Vivid Wise As.