On the eve of his departure for Hong Kong, jockey Christian Reith has demonstrated his skills and intuition to set Cradle Me up for a possible Group One start.

Reith took the David Pfieffer-trained mare to the front in the 1200m benchmark 85 and the $2.50 favourite held off her rivals with You'll Never ($5) getting closest, 1-1/4 lengths away.

Pfieffer left the tactics up to Reith but said he did not necessarily want to see her in the lead because she had failed in that role before.

"I told Christian to ride her how she feels," Pfieffer said.

"She has led before and it hasn't worked out but with the blinkers on this time, it may have helped.

"It might be time to look at another black type race for her. It's a big jump to a Group One but I'll take a good look at the Tatt's Tiara among others."

For his part, Reith said the mare was never going to get beaten and she proved her strength by running her final 600m in 33.56s.

"I put my head on the chopping board and took her to the front," he said.

"You've got to make a decision and I made one.

"She quickened and then quickened again. She is only little but she has a big engine."

The jockey said given the right circumstances, Cradle Me could get to 1400m, the distance of the Tatt's Tiara at Eagle Farm on June 21.

Reith has his first rides in Hong Kong on Sunday, the first day of a short-term contract until the end of the season in July.

"I'm really looking forward to Hong Kong," he said.

"Originally they asked me to come for three meetings and then they came back and asked me to come for the rest of the season.

"It's a good time to go and it could lead to other things."