After spending most of the year recovering from a broken leg sustained while competing at the 2016 Winter Equestrian Festival, 22-year-old Catherine Tyree (USA) of Chicago, Illinois, is making a comeback and proved she is back in top form on Saturday at the American Gold Cup. Less than a week ago Tyree finished second in the HITS Saugerites $1 Million Grand Prix CSI5*, but on Saturday she piloted Mary Tyree's Bokai, a 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, to the win in the $86,000 Fidelity Investments® Classic CSI4*.
"This is a relatively new horse for me," said Tyree. "I just got him at the beginning of July so we haven't done much together. He's an incredible horse and I feel so lucky to have him. It was hard this winter sitting and watching, but if anything it made me want to come back and give it my all after that. The horses have been absolutely incredible and I have the most incredible team at North Run. It's a really nice feeling to be able to pull off the win for them because everyone works so hard."
Course designer Alan Wade set a technical first round track, which saw only two horse and athlete combinations produce clear rounds out of 53 to advance to the jump-off.
"I am very happy I went early because I walked the course and I was able to have my plan and stick to it," said Tyree. "I am kind of my own worst enemy because when I watch people have problems I psyche myself out. This way I was able to go in, trust my horse and know what I had to do. He jumped fantastic in the first round so I was really happy with him."
It was Tyree and 17-year-old Lucy Deslauriers (USA) who returned to vie for the victory on the Grand Prix Field at Old Salem Farm during Saturday's highlight event.
Tyree was up first and blazed around the eight fence serpentine in 34.530 seconds, but finished on 4 faults. Deslauriers only needed a clear round to win the class with Lisa Deslauriers' Hester, however the pair also collected 4 faults in the jump-off and tripped the timers in 34.790 seconds — just 2/10ths of a second off the winning pace — to finish in second place. Tracy Fenney (USA) and Mtm Reve du Paradis, owned by Mtm Farm, took third place honors with 1 time fault in the first round.
"Lucy is a fantastic competitor," said Tyree. "I've know her for a really long time and she's a great rider and she has a great partnership with that horse so I knew coming in that she was going to be quick. That was probably my third jump-off with the horse so I just wanted to make sure I was fast enough and if I had one down, just stay on it. You never know what is going to happen and at the end of the day we had one down but he was great."
After spending most of the year recovering from a broken leg sustained while competing at the 2016 Winter Equestrian Festival, 22-year-old Catherine Tyree (USA) of Chicago, Illinois, is making a comeback and proved she is back in top form on Saturday at the American Gold Cup. Less than a week ago Tyree finished second in the HITS Saugerites $1 Million Grand Prix CSI5*, but on Saturday she piloted Mary Tyree's Bokai, a 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, to the win in the $86,000 Fidelity Investments® Classic CSI4*.
"This is a relatively new horse for me," said Tyree. "I just got him at the beginning of July so we haven't done much together. He's an incredible horse and I feel so lucky to have him. It was hard this winter sitting and watching, but if anything it made me want to come back and give it my all after that. The horses have been absolutely incredible and I have the most incredible team at North Run. It's a really nice feeling to be able to pull off the win for them because everyone works so hard."
Course designer Alan Wade set a technical first round track, which saw only two horse and athlete combinations produce clear rounds out of 53 to advance to the jump-off.
"I am very happy I went early because I walked the course and I was able to have my plan and stick to it," said Tyree. "I am kind of my own worst enemy because when I watch people have problems I psyche myself out. This way I was able to go in, trust my horse and know what I had to do. He jumped fantastic in the first round so I was really happy with him."
It was Tyree and 17-year-old Lucy Deslauriers (USA) who returned to vie for the victory on the Grand Prix Field at Old Salem Farm during Saturday's highlight event.
Tyree was up first and blazed around the eight fence serpentine in 34.530 seconds, but finished on 4 faults. Deslauriers only needed a clear round to win the class with Lisa Deslauriers' Hester, however the pair also collected 4 faults in the jump-off and tripped the timers in 34.790 seconds — just 2/10ths of a second off the winning pace — to finish in second place. Tracy Fenney (USA) and Mtm Reve du Paradis, owned by Mtm Farm, took third place honors with 1 time fault in the first round.
"Lucy is a fantastic competitor," said Tyree. "I've know her for a really long time and she's a great rider and she has a great partnership with that horse so I knew coming in that she was going to be quick. That was probably my third jump-off with the horse so I just wanted to make sure I was fast enough and if I had one down, just stay on it. You never know what is going to happen and at the end of the day we had one down but he was great."