No Konfusion about Rehearsal Chase victor

Konfusion provided the training partnership of Sue Smith and Joel Parkinson with their biggest success together in the BetMGM Rehearsal Handicap Chase at Newcastle.

The duo have enjoyed a great month in November, with the seven-year-old’s victory their 14th win, but none have been anywhere near as valuable as this £75,000 affair.

Bounced out in front by Callum Bewley, who only returned to action in October after almost a year off, he strolled clear in the home straight to win by 15 lengths.

The 3-1 chance will now head to Wetherby on Boxing Day for the Rowland Meyrick Chase, when he is likely to be running off a much higher mark than his current 126 rating.

Bewley said: “My agent told me I’d better watch my weight this week as I was going to be riding him, so it’s been a long week but worth it.

“I had two operations and things weren’t looking great but it’s paid off in the long run.

“Doing 10st 2lb for me is not easy, but days like today are why we do the job.”

For Parkinson, grandson of Smith’s husband, Harvey, it was his first taste of big-race glory.

“This will be our biggest winner and he’s a lovely horse. The soft ground with the low weight really helped him,” he said.

“He jumps great but he tipped up at Haydock last week and if he hadn’t, we wouldn’t be here today.

“It’s a proper test today but we’ll head to Wetherby at Christmas now, that was the plan before today.

“That’s probably our best November, not just ours, it would be for a lot of people. We set our stall out to have them ready a bit earlier this season and it’s paid off.”