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Trainer Charlie Longsdon has reported Tea for Free to be in “flying form” ahead of his attempt to win a fifth successive race over fences in the SkyBet chase at Doncaster on Saturday. The eight-year-old is unbeaten since switching to the larger obstacles and was last seen when winning at Newbury on New Year's Eve by an impressive six and a half lengths.
Charlie Longsdon said; “Tea for Free has come out of his last race in flying form, he won really impressively at Newbury and he has gone up the handicap a huge amount. I’m really looking forward to this race, it’s a big step up in class but he deserves to be there. He’s won his last four and he seems to be in extremely good form.
“I couldn’t have been happier with his win at Newbury. I was worried about the deteriorating conditions that day but he seemed to relish it and Lilly [Pinchin] got him into a lovely rhythm. He jumped for fun from fence to fence. We always knew Newbury would suit him as a track and he seemed to enjoy it. One of the main reasons we’re thinking about Doncaster for the SkyBet Chase is because the track is similar.”
Having gone four starts without a win over hurdles, Tea For Free has continued to impress over fences winning at Huntingdon, twice at Uttoxeter and Newbury. He is currently 9/1 with sponsors SkyBet for the 3 mile contest at Doncaster this weekend.
Charlie Longsdon said:“He’s just a massive improver. He started off at the beginning of last season off a mark of 108 when he won very comfortably at Huntingdon, and has gone on from there to his last win off 131 and he’s now 138. His progression will end somewhere, but the way he won last time you’d like to think there’s more to come.
“We always knew he was far better than his form last season. For some reason things didn’t go our way. Whether that was hurdles or he wasn’t quite right last season, we knew he was a far better horse than he was showing. He’s now progressing into the horse we initially thought he was going to be.”
Aboard Tea for Free once again on Saturday will be 3lb conditional jockey Lilly Pinchin, who joined the Longsdon team at the beginning of the season.
Longsdon added the rider has struck up a great partnership with Tea For Free. “Lilly loves him. He was probably her second or third ever winner for us and they’ve won four now. They get on extremely well and Lilly’s forward going style suits the horse. Tea For Free likes that, he likes to be up with the pace.”
