Five-year-old mare Midnight Soprano continued her remarkable rate of progress when getting the better of Ascot Gold Cup candidate Saddler’s Rock and odds-on favourite Unaccompanied in the Listed Seamus & Rosemary McGrath Saval Beg Stakes in Leopardstown last night.

Fame And Glory is the notable absentee as Saddler’s Rock was left to head eight declared runners in Friday’s Seamus And Rosemary McGrath Memorial Saval Beg Stakes at Leopardstown.

It has been incredibly quiet for me of late as the ground is terrible and it means that I am not able to get the horses out that I want to, both over jumps and on the flat.

The first thing I must do is assure readers that Steps To Freedom is absolutely fine and I really just had a change of heart with regards to running him at Dundalk last night.

A US judge today vowed to fight an order to remove a 350 stone Ten Commandments monument from his courthouse.