Warren Greatrex has Punchestown plan for Haydock winner The Nipper

Warren Greatrex is targeting a return to the Punchestown Festival with The Nipper following a predictably facile success at Haydock.The six-year-old won her first three starts in the bumper sphere last season, including a Listed event at Sandown.She then journeyed across the Irish Sea for another valuable prize and was in the lead when she ran out and smashed through the rails.Her jumping career got off to an inauspicious start when she fell at Wetherby, but she righted that wrong at Lingfield in January.After following up at Newcastle, she was a 1-14 favourite to see off her only rival in the mares' novice hurdle on Merseyside.The Nipper jumped well in the main and readily pulled 14 lengths clear of Your Turn, providing jockey Gavin Sheehan with his 50th winner of the campaign.Greatrex said: "That's my first winner at Haydock. I don't have heaps of runners here, but a few have been touched off and it's nice to get that one in."She can be a bit quirky, as she showed at Punchestown last year. We did want a lead but I don't think the second horse could go the gallop she can."We'll look at Punchestown again. It sort of fits in as she goes and has her summer break in Ireland."I'll see what the handicap mark is and then we can look at handicaps or one of the novices."The feature event of the afternoon on Merseyside was the Howdens Joinery Chase, in which the Venetia Williams-trained Buttercup (7-4 favourite) comfortably completed a hat-trick.Running under a 7lb penalty for her latest win at Warwick a week and a half ago, the six-year-old knuckled down to see off Wolf Sword by five lengths. "With these fillies, I think a lot of it is about confidence and we always expected her to be a better chaser than hurdler," Williams told Racing UK. "On her first run over fences she was third and then on her second run at Bangor she fell at the second-last, probably through no fault of her own."Her next run was at Wincanton. The ground was probably a bit quick and she just needed that to get her confidence back."The plan at the moment is she's due to go to stud at the end of this season.When the ground dries up I don't think she'll be so effective, so time is short." Chti Balko's jumping left plenty to be desired when he made all the running at Catterick last month, but he looked to have learnt from the experience on the evidence of his victory in the novice hurdle over two miles.Donald McCain's 3-1 shot was nine lengths too strong for even-money favourite Potters Story. McCain said: "We've given him two or three schools since his last run but, to be honest, as before Catterick, he's been very good at home and never missed a beat. "At Catterick he seemed to be rushing at everything and hopefully the ear-plugs and slower ground have done the job "He's a young horse going the right way and there's no great plans."