Like all college seniors, Catherine Tyree is quite used to the question “What are you going to do with your life?” Unlike most undergrads however, Tyree’s future might very well be on the Grand Prix circuit.

Tyree took top honors Saturday’s feature $86,000 Fidelity Investments FEI Classic at the American Gold Cup at Old Salem Farm. The 22-year-old Northwestern student expertly guided her 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Bokai around a highly technical course from designer Alan Wade, which yielded just two clears in the field of 53.

In the jump off, Tyree managed to get Bokai across the finish just .2 seconds ahead of Lucy Deslauriers and Hester.

“I was lucky to go early in the course, which played to my advantage a bit,” Tyree said. “I have a tendency to watch other people struggle and then I kind of apply it in my mind, so I was just happy I went early and he jumped fantastic.”

Bokai only joined her string in the summer, but clearly, the talented pair have already struck a harmonious chord.

“He has a lot of blood,” she said. “Every time he goes in the ring he tries so hard. He’s careful, he’s quick, I love him and I feel lucky to have him right now.”

It has been quite a year for the Chicago native, who just recently returned to the saddle after suffering a broken leg in a devastating fall in Wellington last February. To say she is making up for lost time would be an understatement. In August, Tyree won the $50,000 Vermont Summer Celebration Grand Prix on her horse Don’t Go. A couple weeks later, Tyree finished second in the Hampton Classic Rider Challenge, and just last week, was runner-up at the HITS $1,000,000 Saugerties Grand Prix CSI5*.

Clearly, Tyree and her string of horses belong among the elite, but the young rider/student is keeping her options open.

“I start my senior year on Tuesday,” she said. “I’m gonna hope to keep riding…see where it takes me. I’m planning right now to have a job once I graduate, but a lot of things can change.”