LISTOWEL PREVIEW: THE 2008 Listowel festival finally gets under way this afternoon and Two Timer can take advantage of a low weight to win the day one feature.

A total of 18 line up for the Supporters Club Lartigue Hurdle and even the minimum two-mile distance will be a stamina test on the forecast heavy ground.

That will place an emphasis on every pound carried and it could prove the undoing of the highly regarded Silverhand who has 11.9 on his back.

Noel Meade's horse was well fancied to figure in last season's Triumph Hurdle but the trainer's string were completely out of form at the Cheltenham festival.

Silverhand returned to action with a run on the flat at Clonmel but he is unproven on testing conditions and the combination of weight and ground could be too much.

Perfect Reward beat some of today's field on desperate ground at Tralee but there could be significant improvement to come from Two Timer, who looks threatening at the bottom of the €55,000 handicap.

The ex-David Elsworth-trained horse blew his chance at Tipperary with a bad mistake at the second last but made no mistake subsequently at Down Royal when winning comfortably on ground with some cut in it.

Hampstead Heath can provide punters with a perfect tonic in the opening juvenile hurdle. David Marnane's smart recruit jumped notably well on his debut at Tramore and a strict line of from gives Hampstead Heath an edge over the Killarney winner El Fontan.

Davy Russell teams up with No Toll in the maiden hurdle and ground conditions should be no trouble to Philip Fenton's horse judged on a bumper win at Limerick last Christmas.

Dromaneen Castle was a wide-margin winner at Ballinrobe on her last start and could be a major player in the mares handicap hurdle.

Trainer Davy Fitzgerald has confirmed that his star chaser Mister Top Notch will carry topweight in tomorrow's Guinness Kerry National.

The nine-year-old was the winner of a valuable handicap at Leopardstown in January and a stiff hike in the weights forced him to line up in a couple of Grade One events subsequently.

"I walked the track on Sunday and the ground was very deep. But the race will be the first chase run on the card and there aren't many races the horses can run in," Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald hopes the run will sharpen Mister Top Notch up for some valuable prizes later this year, with a possible clash with Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Denman on the cards.

"After Listowel the plan is to run in a £100,000 (€125,000) handicap hurdle at Haydock (November 22nd)," Fitzgerald continued. "We will see what the English handicapper has to say but that race looks perfect for him and we may then stay in England and go for the Hennessy a week later".

Septimus escapes penalty ahead of Melbourne Cup

SEPTIMUS HAS escaped a penalty for the Melbourne Cup despite winning last weekend's Irish Field St Leger by a massive 13 lengths, writes Brian O'Connor.

Aidan O'Brien's star stayer was cut to 6 to 1 favourite for Australia's most famous race following his Leger triumph and is set to fly the flag for the all-conquering Ballydoyle team at Flemington on the first Tuesday in November.

O'Brien has revealed that Septimus will be accompanied to Melbourne by both the three-year-old Alessandro Volta and Honolulu, who scored in last Friday's Doncaster Cup.

It was that success in England that attracted the attention of the Racing Victoria authorities who have slapped an extra kilo on to Honolulu who will have to carry 54 kilos at Flemington.

Septimus, however, remains on 58.5kg or nine stone-three pound and he remains the apparent O'Brien number one as the champion trainer bids to improve on last year's Cup third by Mahler.

"While Septimus was visually very impressive on Saturday, given the level of opposition, the performance did not merit a penalty for the Melbourne Cup," said an Australian spokesman.

"The runner-up, New Zealand, had won a maiden at Killarney on his previous start, after being soundly beaten in another maiden.

"The third, Red Moloney, was beaten 13 lengths in a Listed race on his previous start and is yet to win a Group race.

"Honolulu was a dominant winner of one of England's feature staying races and his new weight recognises he has continued to improve from his three-year-old form," he added.