A brilliant tactical ride from Jim Byrne may have earned gutsy mare Reggie a reprieve from retirement following her easy win in the Caloundra Cup.Melbourne trainer Peter Moody, who missed the rising nine-year-old's win, believed the 2400-metre feature which was conducted under lights for the first time was likely to be Reggie's last race before she headed to the breeding barn.However, Reggie's caretaker trainer Desleigh Forster and owners' representative Bronwyn Upjohn said they would make a rec

A brilliant tactical ride from Jim Byrne may have earned gutsy mare Reggie a reprieve from retirement following her easy win in the Caloundra Cup.

Melbourne trainer Peter Moody, who missed the rising nine-year-old's win, believed the 2400-metre feature which was conducted under lights for the first time was likely to be Reggie's last race before she headed to the breeding barn.

However, Reggie's caretaker trainer Desleigh Forster and owners' representative Bronwyn Upjohn said they would make a recommendation to Simon O'Donnell's OTI syndicate, who part-own her, that she head for the Listed Grafton Cup (2350m) next month.

Reggie was midfield in the back straight on the rain-soaked track before Byrne made a lightning dash around the field to take on the leader Our Lukas who previously won the Ipswich Cup (2150m) by rolling along in front.

It proved to be a masterstroke as Reggie increased her lead and went on to down Phaze Action by 3-1/4 lengths with Deraismes a long neck away third.

"The pace was dawdling and I had no chance to win where I was," said Byrne who celebrated his second Caloundra Cup success.

"It was basically the same race as the Ipswich Cup all over again when Our Lukas got a soft lead in front and won.

"She had 57 kilos and it would have been hard for her to pick up in the wet so I decided to make a move on her."

Reggie was having only her third start for O'Donnell's OTI syndicate who bought her for $240,000 at the recent national broodmare sales at the Gold Coast.

"She's a class act and was easily the best wet tracker here today," Forster said.

"Peter (Moody) put blinkers on her for the first time and we had hoped she would race closer.

"But she was still back in the field in the middle stages before Jim decided to make his move.

"It made it a genuine staying race. She's flying at the moment and I'll be recommending to Pete that she runs in the Grafton Cup while she's in such good form."

Runner-up Phaze Action, who also hails from Victoria, will back up in next week's Queensland Cup (3200m) at Eagle Farm.

Jockey Damian Browne offered no excuses for Phaze Action's defeat.

"I was going to make the same run Jim did on the winner but he beat me to it," Browne said.

In a day of drama, the Caloundra Cup grass meeting proceeded as normal on the heavy track despite safety concerns from jockeys.

Senior riders Glen Colless and Larry Cassidy approached stewards on behalf of jockeys after the opening two cushion track races to express concerns with the 1800-metre crossing on the grass track.

The crossing is used by horses to enter the cushion track and was a quagmire after it was badly cut up during the week by machinery.