LIFE is on the up for Cara Shardlow, who after having a disappointing outing a month ago at Manor Grange, finished third in the Prix St George class, where Cara thought Detonator seemed a little flat and low on energy.

The pair desperately needed a win in order to qualify for the nationals at Hartpury College next April.

So with this in mind, Cara decided to make the long journey to Sheepgate in Lincolnshire to have another crack at qualifying for the Prix St George championships, which was their final chance to qualify, so the pressure was on.

Having opted to travel to Sheepgate, Cara decided to have a crack at the next level up, which is the Intermediate 1, of which neither Cara nor the horse have ever competed at that level.

The level of competition was going to be tough, as this was the last qualifier for everybody, and with Cara and Detonator fairly new to the level of Prix St Georges and never having competed at intermediate 1, it was going to be a tall order to win.

Much to the delight of Cara, Detonator produced a fantastic Prix St Georges test, without any mistakes to win, thus giving them the qualification.

The pair were the first ones in for the intermediate 1 test and managed to produce a nice test, with a couple of minor mistakes.

After keeping an eye on the score board, being ever hopeful of a place, the pair managed to lead from the start to the end, giving them an outstanding double qualification, much to Cara’s delight.

Cara said: “I was hopeful of a good score in the Prix St George test, but as always you can never tell with the judges, but thankfully they were on my side this time.

“It was amazing to win the intermediate 1 as we have never competed at this level, and only did it because I thought I may as well do two tests if I was going to travel all that way. It just shows that horses are full of surprises when you least expect it.”