A racing fan had a stag do to remember after a hilarious prank from his friends at the track.
Dressed in a multicoloured stripy suit, 'Rick' stood out from the crowd at Hereford races on Friday. But there was more to the day that just the fetching outfit, as his pals found another way to get him noticed. They named a race after a woman Rick described as his "original girlfriend" in an interview on Sky Sports Racing. As part of the countdown to the wedding, his group of school friends came up with the title of the first contest of seven on the card.
Their afternoon got off to an amusing start as the ' Rick Finally Gets Over Becky Novices' Hurdle' was run over 2m 5f. Before the runners headed to the start, Rick was tracked down by the TV channel's presenter and told viewers all about it.
Grimacing a little, Rick said: "Becky was my original girlfriend when I was 18-years-old. It has taken me this long to get over her. Unfortunately it's a bit of a shame, my school friends who are over there right now (by the edge of the parade ring) seem to have had a lot of fun with this one so we'll see how it goes."
He went on: "Love at a young age is very tough to describe isn't it. So was I in love? Who knows."
Rick revealed that he was no longer friends with Becky and is due to marry Lauren in September.
"Lauren's a fantastic girl," he said, before pointing to two friends guilty of arranging the race title. " Luckily their stag dos are coming up so we'll see!"
The friends looked away from the camera chuckling to themselves. Rick meanwhile was asked to pick the 'best turned out' horse and from his "checklist" selected number five, Malatia. Hoping for a winner to kickstart the celebrations, he backed the 4-7 favourite to go one place better than her most recent start at the track.
Unfortunately Rick's selection could only finish third as victory went to 10-1 shot Gris Majeur. Sean Houlihan's mount finished five lengths ahead of Grange Road, ridden by Bryony Frost.
