Punchestowns survived a bad blunder in the Grade 1 Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase to cement his position as 3/1 favourite (from 7-2) with Sky Bet in the RSA Chase betting.
A winner on his chasing debut at Newbury, he extended his unbeaten sequence to two over fences but had to claw back a yawning gap after losing ground with a costly mistake at the seventh fence.
Matt Doyle, the Sky Bet horse racing betting spokesman, said: ‘His class told in the end and Barry Geraghty always had Tchico Polos in his sights, but Punchestowns will not be able to get away with such errors at Cheltenham.’
Binocular was left unchanged at 7/1 by Sky Bet for the Champion Hurdle after gaining his first victory of the season in the toteplacepot Contenders Hurdle at Sandown on Saturday.
Last season’s Champion Hurdle third won on the bridle, but he did no more than expected in beating lesser rated rivals and Sky Bet felt the confidence-boosting success did little to advance his festival claims
Although the victories gave Nicky Henderson a double, it was a day of mixed fortunes for the trainer who suffered reverses with Triumph Hurdle gamble According a major flop in the juveniles’ event on the card and Arkle hope Mad Max disappointing at Doncaster.
The performance of the day was recorded at Town Moor by Kalahari King, who was cut into 6/1 from 8s by Sky Bet for the Champion Chase after defying topweight on his comeback in the Blue Square Handicap Chase.
Not far behind, Tazbar was cut for the RSA Chase into 16s from 25/1 following an impressive success in the novices chase and useful bumper Dan Breen made a seamless transition to hurdles in the opener earning a 33/1 quote for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle.
In Ireland Captain Cee Bee recovered from an early mistake to win at Naas and is 4/1 from 5s for the Arkle with the Harrogate-based firm.
Sky Bet market movers:
Supreme Novices’ Hurdle
Dan Breen 33/1 from 100s
RSA Chase
Punchestowns 3/1 fav (from 7/2)
Tazbar 16/1 from 25s
Weird Al 10/1 from 12s
Queen Mother Champion Chase
Kalahari King 6/1 from 8s
Champion Hurdle
Binocular 7/1 unchanged
Triumph Hurdle
Diktalina 33/1 from 100/1
Arkle Chase
Capatin Cee Bee 4/1 from 5/1
Editor’s note: Odds quoted are checked and correct at the time of writing
