Noel Fehily in for surgery on injured wrist

Jockey Noel Fehily will have an operation on his injured wrist tomorrow morning.

The luckless rider was due to partner Kauto Star in his bid for history in the King George VI Chase at Kempton. However, he ruled himself out of the ride last week when he aggravated an old injury and it now needs to be wired.

"I'm having an operation on Wednesday morning," said Fehily. "The ligament is ruptured and it needs to be wired, and I just need to give it time to heal. It will be six to eight weeks I'd imagine. They haven't told me when I can expect to be back riding. I'll have a better idea on Wednesday, but I'd imagine it will be six to eight weeks minimum.

"It would be nice to think I'd be back for Cheltenham."

Fehily has stood in for the injured Ruby Walsh with aplomb on the likes of Master Minded, Silviniaco Conti and Sam Winner so far this season for Paul Nicholls.

Meanwhile, Nicholls has decided against sending What A Friend to Ireland to attempt back-to-back successes in today's Lexus Chase at Leopardstown.

The course needs to pass a 7.30am inspection in order for the big meeting to get the go-ahead as thawing snow has left patches of surface water. However, the prospect of heavy ground was enough to help Nicholls decide to keep Sir Alex Ferguson's chaser at home.

Speaking on Twitter, Nicholls said: "Due to heavy ground and waterlogging, (we] have decided against sending What A Friend to Ireland."

In his absence, last year's runner-up Money Trix is back for another crack for Nicky Richards while The Listener is due to have his first run for 416 days.

Paul Nolan's Irish Hennessy winner Joncol was third in the race last season and connections will be looking to see him improve on his lacklustre seasonal reappearance.

Pandorama, one of Ireland's leading novices last term, looks to add to his Grade One tally after having a luckless trip to England for the Hennessy.

Willie Mullins runs Cooldine and J'y Vole, who both ran well in the rearranged John Durkan Chase, while stablemate Kempes will join them. Glencove Marina and Let Yourself Go step up in trip while Mossbank, Notre Pere and Siegemaster are all engaged.

Vic Venturi, a stablemate of Siegemaster, has his first run since unseating his rider in the Grand National when going well and completes a high class field of 13.

Nick Mitchell is confident The Listener retains all his old ability, despite turning 12 in just a few days. "We woke up this morning and the eight or nine inches of snow that had been on the track since we got here on Christmas Eve had completely disappeared, so it's looking very hopeful now," he told At The Races."He picked up a minor tendon injury in his last race which meant we had to stop dead with him but, touch wood, we've had a clear run with him.

"He's 12 next week but he doesn't look an old horse, he's got plenty of petrol left in the tank and he's only run 28 times in his life. If he retains all his ability, he loves it round here and with the thaw there is water standing on the track, so the ground will be in his favour and he should go well. If he were to win another Grade One, that would make it one in each of the last five seasons which is no mean feat.

"He's very enthusiastic to the point of being a bit of an idiot sometimes. We haven't missed a beat with him at home, the weather has been pretty bad but he hasn't missed any work. He's won first time out in the past so we're hopeful, but the main thing is to get him back safe and sound."