MORE Irish-raised success at the highest level in Hong Kong came in the form of Peniaphobia and one suspects we will continue to hear plenty more about this impressive individual.

Only in the final strides did Douglas Whyte manage to cajole the son of Dandy Man past Bundle Of Joy to win the (local) Group 1 Kent & Curwen Centenary Sprint Cup - but the victory was better than it looked.

The Sha Tin five-furlong chute is notoriously biased towards horses racing hard along the stands rail while Peniaphobia drew gate one, the least desirable berth furthest away from the fence. Admittedly, there were only eight runners and Whyte was able to find a prominent position. But his mount was always without cover and only his tenacity and will to win got him home in front.

Formerly trained by Richard Fahey to win the Weatherbys Super Sprint at Newbury as a juvenile in 2013, the speed of Peniaphobia’s graduation to local elite is without precedent for a European import.

The only comparable impact this fast in recent years remains the hugely successful Lucky Nine, but even that horse could not place in the Hong Kong Sprint as Peniaphobia did as a three-year-old.

Next on the agenda will be a rematch on February 15th against Aerovelocity, his conqueror in the international sprint in December, and then a trip to Dubai for the Golden Shaheen at Meydan.

“He’s more of a six-furlong horse than he is a five type and he won today on class alone. I wouldn’t be worried about him on the dirt in Dubai,” winning trainer Tony Cruz said. Peniaphobia has coped exceptionally well with everything Cruz has asked of him since his debut at Happy Valley over a year ago in Class 3 so the trainer’s confidence in the horse is understandable.

The stats are also very impressive. Between his career in England and Hong Kong he has won nine of his 16 starts and finished unplaced only once.

Meanwhile, the runner-up Bundle Of Joy is likely to go for the Al Quoz Sprint in Dubai on the World Cup card on the recommendation of jockey Joao Moreira who won the same race last year on Amber Sky. The latter trailed in last on Sunday in the event he won in 2014. Amber Sky subsequently scoped for blood in his trachea and also pulled up lame.