Copper goes chasing Donal Coffey recently won a hurdle at Wexford with Printing Copper and no doubt the Cork trainer will be watching the action at Exeter today when her half-brother, Copper Bleu makes his chasing bow in the 3.10, the Deloitte Llp Beginners' Chase. In 2007/08, Coffey sent this son of Pistolet Bleu out to win a Lemonfield maiden run in a good time before almost ten months later, in January 2008, he landed a Cork bumper with the Donal MacAuley ridden gelding. He then joined the Philip Hobbs yard, where his half-sister (came from the same source) Presenting Copper also excelled. Copper Bleu finished fourth in the Supreme Novices this year, second at Aintree and won at Punchestown and with soft ground a must for the seven-year-old, this eleven runner event is a good starting point for the tall, narrow type. His rivals include the Nicholls/Walsh runner, Take The Breeze, Captain Americo, Cloud Nine (a half-brother to The Listener), Ballinderry Park and other interesting sorts. Encouragingly for potential backers of Copper Bleu, Hobbs' Sandhill Racing Stables have been sending out a few winners lately, including Planet Of Sound in the feature race here a week ago. Stable jockey, Richard Johnson takes the ride on Copper Bleu.
