Couple head to track

Two Cheltenham racing fans abandoned the guests at their wedding reception and went to the Cheltenham Festival instead. Kim Barton, 22, and Iain, 24, first met when they were working behind the bar at last year's National Hunt festival. The Pittville couple planned to join friends and family at the Conservatory pub after their wedding in the town's register office yesterday. But in a snap decision the couple, who are students at Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education, left their guests behind and went to Prestbury Park racecourse instead to try to win some money to help pay for their honeymoon. Iain said: "Our families don't know where we are and they'll probably go mad when they find out. "Hopefully they're too drunk to notice we're not there." Kim added: "We wanted a really good day out but unfortunately we could only get five tickets. "We were planning on having a do at the pub but thought instead we would go to the races. "Iain proposed to me at the festival last year so it has special significance being here. "It has been a fantastic day and added to the romance. "It's much better coming here like this than working like we did last year." The couple plan to travel around the world for their honeymoon when they finish their courses in fine art and media studies. Unfortunately, they were off target with their bets yesterday and didn't pick a winner. Iain said: "We haven't had any winners at all. "We thought Magic Combination and Celibate would win but we had no luck."