Gary Moore will consider running Benatar in the Bet At Racinguk.Com Pendil Novices' Steeple Chase at Kempton on February 24.
Benatar, unbeaten over fences, was entered in the Scilly Isles Novices' Chase last weekend but was not quite 100 per cent to run.
Moore will now assess a couple of options or he could head straight to the Cheltenham Festival, for which he is entered in the JLT and RSA Insurance races.
"He was not quite right, so we decided not to go to Sandown," said Moore.
"There is the Pendil at Kempton and a race at Fontwell.
"We will have a look at things closer to both those. I would like to see what the ground is like and the competition, as they come close enough to Cheltenham."