Wife gets a real-life gift horse

A businessman in north-east England came up with an original Christmas present for his hard-working wife.

Michael Timmins, who lives in Washington, Tyne and Wear, sponsored the Boxing day race meeting at Sedgefield - and named all six races after his wife, Susan.

Mr Timmins, 45, is the managing director of Saltwell Signs, based on the Team Valley Industrial Estate, in Gateshead, where Susan is a director.

The unusual gift, which cost about £5,000, marked the fact that the 43-year-old mother-of-three is having Boxing Day off.

The scheduled races included, the Susan I Cooked Lunch Yesterday Novices Hurdle; the No Need To Cook Today Beginners' Chase; the I'm Off Today Handicap Hurdle and the I'm Having Another Sherry Today Handicap Chase.

Mr Timmins said: "I wanted to do something special this year."

Mrs Timmins said her entire family was looking forward to the event.