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 for the RSA Chase.

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 of Sky Bet 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.

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