Philip Hobbs trained Copper Bleu under Richard Johnson, overcame a potentially troublesome administration error when claiming the Star Best For Racing Coverage Novice Hurdle at Punchestown today.

Copper Bleu was declared in error by HRI for the previous race, the Land Rover Champion Novice Hurdle, and eventually was given the number 17 cloth, despite carrying more weight than most of his rivals.

Afterwards a somewhat relieved Hobbs stated "thankfully the error was rectified and we definitely ended up in the right race as Mikael D'Haguenet was very impressive in the previous race!"

He added "Copper Bleu will go novice chasing next season, and while he stays two and a half miles, is very effective over two miles."