Montgeroult wins French National, De Bon Coeur stays on top

The five-year-old gelding Montgeroult (Kapgarde) easily won the Prix du Président de la République Handicap Chase (Gr3), renamed this year Prix Notre-Dame de Paris, Sunday at Auteuil. Trained by Marcel Rolland, who won this "French Grand National" for a record fifth time, Mongeroult was bred in Normandy by Sven Pauwels. He is the only horse owned by Robert Ollivier today.
Montgeroult is the first foal out of the unraced mare My Samsara (Trempolino), who has since given a 3-year-old filly by Kapgarde in training with Richard Chatel and a Martaline colt.
It was only the 8th appearance of Mongeroult, seventh for his comeback and fourth in the preparatory race, the Prix Lutteur III Handicap Chase (L), also at Auteuil but on a shorter distance. He was wearing blinkers and a noseband for the first time, which allowed him to be more focused than usual on Sunday.
The champion mare De Bon Coeur (Vision d'État), for her part, won as expected on the hurdles of the Prix Léon Rambaud (Gr2), the main race on the card at Auteuil on Sunday.
The favourite relayed the front-running Galop Marin (Black Sam Bellamy) in the final turn and she held in respect her last challenger, Berjou (Holy Roman Emperor), beaten a good length, with Galop Marin third at two lengths and half. The winning mare is trained by François Nicolle for Jacques Détré and Nicolas de Lageneste's Haras de Saint-Voir.