Conor O'Dwyer's spectacularly successful association with the 1996 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Imperial Call appears to be over.

O'Dwyer was contacted a number of days ago by the horse's owners Lisselan Farms and told that Paul Carberry will ride Imperial Call in future.

"I was told that they want to stay with Paul," said O'Dwyer yesterday. "It's disappointing for me. Losing the ride at Naas because of my suspension was disappointing but losing the ride altogether is hard. There are no hard feelings though. That's just the way things go.

"It's been great to be associated with the horse. We've won a Gold Cup, a Hennessy and an Ericsson together and he has been great for me. You never know, if Noel Meade claims Paul in the future I might get to ride Imperial Call again." Sarah Lane, spokesperson for Lisselan Farms, yesterday described reports of Carberry definitely replacing O'Dwyer in the Imperial Call hot seat as premature, but admitted: "At the moment it looks like Paul will ride Imperial Call when he is available but nothing has been tied down yet."

Carberry will partner Imperial Call in the John Durkan Memorial Chase at Punchestown on Sunday and the gelding's trainer, Raymond Hurley, was quoted yesterday as saying: "Paul will ride on Sunday and I'd say he'll stay on the horse now. He seems to have that way of getting horses to travel and jump . . . Conor is a very nice fellow who rides very well, he is just unlucky the way it turned out with his suspension."

O'Dwyer is currently suspended in Ireland until the middle of the Christmas meetings, a costly ban that now seems to have also cost him his best ever ride.

The popular jockey was given the ride on Imperial Call by the gelding's former trainer Fergie Sutherland in the 1996 Hennessy Gold Cup. The partnership immediately sparked with victory in the that race and the next month in chasing's blue riband at Cheltenham.

What was confirmed yesterday is that the King George VI Chase at Kempton on St Stephen's Day is on Imperial Call's target list.

"If there is a good cut in the ground at Kempton we will seriously think about the King George. It's a serious option for the horse," said Lane.

One man who has enjoyed a purple patch this season is Ruby Walsh and the term's leading rider can continue his successful run at Wexford's seven-race fixture this afternoon.