Peter Moody’s class mare Lights Of Heaven may back up in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes on Sydney Cup Day before heading to Queensland for the winter carnival riches after her class win in the Neville Sellwood Stakes 2013 at Rosehill Gardens today.

Neville Sellwood Stakes winner Lights Of Heaven will head to the Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival. Photo: Steve Hart.

Golden Slipper Day 2013 kicked off with a cracker handicap clash where class reigned supreme with five-year-old Zabeel mare Lights Of Heaven enjoying an easy win the $125,000 Group 3 Cellarbrations Neville Sellwood Stakes (2000m).

Top jockey Luke Nolen gave the former Schweppes Oaks winner a lovely ride in the Sellwood positioning Lights Of Heaven, the well-backed market mover at $2.90, just off the roughie leaders in third and then fourth.

Letting Why Not lead in a moderate pace ahead of Single, the eventual winner cruised throughout the race before Nolen popped her out with about 600m left to travel.

While the likes of Said Com ($4.60) and backmarker Hoylonny ($13), who finished third and second respectively, came home strongly the mare was too good and ran away to re-entre the winners’ stall.

“She had a lot of weight under trying conditions so I thought the effort was very, very good,” winning hoop Nolen said after the race.

Moody was pleased with the effort and said they could back-up in the $500,000 Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Royal Randwick on April 27 before going down a similar path as last year for the Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival.

“It’s nice to see her back in a confidence boosting kill,” Moody said.

“She’s been pleasing since her return…she was very competitive at the Valley the other night (when second in the Sunline Stakes).”

“She’s well suited to the weight-for-age races in Queensland so she’ll stay down a similar type path as last year.”

Lights Of Heaven thrived in the sunshine state last winter when improving on a first-up seventh in the Queen Of The Turf on Golden Slipper Day 12 months ago to run second to Shez Sinsational in the Group 2 AD Holindale Stakes (1800m) in the mud at the Gold Coast which she is likely to run in again this year.

From there she came within a long neck of Mawingo in the $500,000 Group 1 Doomben Cup (2000m) before taking out the Group 2 Eagle Farm Cup – Brisbane Cup double over 2200m and 2400m respectively at Eagle Farm in June.

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2013 Neville Sellwood Stakes Results & Finishing Order

Rosehill Race 1 – 06/04/2013