Colin Tizzard plans to have Thistlecrack scanned again on Tuesday following the injury setback that has curtailed his season.
So dominant in the staying hurdle division last term, the nine-year-old has translated that form to fences, winning the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day.
He was beaten by the ill-fated Many Clouds in the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham, but remained at the head of the Gold Cup betting until suffering a torn tendon.
Tizzard said: "After 36 hours of feeling gutted, I thought 'We'd better move on from this'. It won't be the last one, but we found it early and that's the main thing.
"We are going to scan him again on Tuesday. There was a little tear there, but there is no heat or swelling there now.
"We just want to check again, just to please ourselves really. It is not like he is walking around with his leg in a bandage."
Betfair Exchange report that having been matched at odds of 990.0 following news of his setback, Thistlecrack was trading at 10.0 (9/1) on Sunday evening.
He had been favourite prior to the news and was in fact odds-on between winning the King George and suffering defeat at Cheltenham in January.
