Blaklion was a familiar name missing from the Grand National weights list this year and connections have revealed he is expected to remain on the sidelines for the rest of the season.
The 11-year-old, fourth in the 2017 Grand National when sent off the 8-1 favourite, was ruled out of last year's race at the last minute due to injury.
Owner Darren Yates purchased the 2016 RSA Chase winner for £300,000 in the build-up and sent him to Philip Kirby, before he was moved to Dan Skelton's stable.
His assistant trainer Tom Messenger said Blaklion's return is still some way off.
"He will come back next season, quite what he will do I'm not sure," he said.
"He had a couple of niggly problems when we got him, a previous leg injury and hock issues so he just needed a bit of time off.
"He's not in training at the moment.
"We will start again in the autumn. We will bring him back in and see how he goes."
Blaklion led the 2017 National field with five fences to go under Noel Fehily but tired in the closing stages as One For Arthur won the £1 million Randox Health-sponsored contest.
The following season he was an emphatic winner of the Becher Chase, but got no further than the first fence in the main event when trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies.
After Blaklion was ruled out last year, Yates paid a large sum to see Grade One winner Don Poli carry his colours at Aintree, where he crossed the line last of the 19 finishers.
Revitalised by racing in the point-to-point sphere, this season the veteran is a contender for the St James's Place Foxhunter Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.
Philip Rowley, the trainer of last year's winner Hazel Hill, reported this week that he is recovering from a slight muscle strain and is expected to make the race after the Gold Cup on March 13.
