EMMA Lavelle is targeting Grand National glory over success at the Cheltenham Festival this year.

The Marlborough trainer is likely to just have a sole runner at the four-day spectacular at Prestbury Park next week, with Junction Fourteen entered in the Ultima Handicap Chase on Tuesday’s opening day.

However, that is likely to serve as a tune-up for the eight-year-old as he is also has an entry for the world-famous steeplechase at Aintree on April 8.

“Personally, we are going to have a quiet Festival. We will have a bigger Aintree than we will Cheltenham this year but that’s just how the cookie crumbles sometimes,” said Lavelle.

“We’ve got a got a lot of nice young stock that are possibly not quite wise enough for Cheltenham at this stage but might be able to take on Aintree and then hopefully back to Cheltenham next year.

“We have got three entered at Cheltenham but looking at what’s likely to stay in, I think our only runner is going to be Junction Fourteen, whose main target is the Grand National.

“Of course it would be very nice to win at Cheltenham on the way but it is more that he needs to get that run into him before he goes to Aintree.

“He wants better ground so we have had to hang onto him in the hope that we will get some nicer ground before Aintree.

“If he could go and win at Cheltenham, it would be fantastic, but in reality, I think Aintree is the main target.”

Given the prestige that comes from delivering a winner at Cheltenham, there is plenty of stress than comes along with it.

As any potential winner next week would be something of a bonus, it has afforded Lavelle the enjoyment of a relatively worry-free winter at her Bonita Racing Stables yard.

“I think it means that you feel slightly less pressurised,” she added.

“The way I describe it is, Cheltenham is your end-of-year exam and Aintree is your end-of-year party.

“There is a different feel between the two meetings. One always feels like there is a much higher pressure octane than the other, even though there is a huge amount of prize money on offer at both.

“For us it, means we can enjoy it more as it’s a little bit less stressful, although of course if we had six favourites, I wouldn’t mind the stress.”