Trainer Tony Cruz has the nominal favourite in both of tomorrow's feature races - and is adamant rising stars Beauty Only and Peniaphobia are bound for even bigger things.

Beauty Only's convincing Hong Kong Classic Mile victory has him pegged as the horse to beat as he moves to the 1,800m of the HK$6 million Hong Kong Classic Cup - and also early fancy for next month's BMW Hong Kong Derby.

Peniaphobia, warmed up for the HK$6.6 million Chairman's Sprint Prize with a tough Group One win up the straight in the Kent & Curwen Centenary Sprint Cup nearly three weeks ago, and he looks set to join the planeload of Dubai-bound Hong Kong raiders on World Cup night.

The duo drew perfectly for tomorrow's Group Ones and Cruz believes a step up in trip suits them too.

"I'd rather be in the situation of having the favourites than outsiders," Cruz said with a smile. "I've been happy with both of them since their last starts, they've trained on well and the step up in distance for both is a plus.

"This looks ideal for Beauty Only, he has already won over 1,800m twice as a two-year-old in Europe, so to me it has always looked like he will get even better when he gets to this race, and the 2,000m in the Derby will be perfect.

"Peniaphobia just keeps getting better, and even though he won over 1,000m, he is just as good or even slightly better over 1,200m."Neil Callan has been aboard Beauty Only in the horse's three local wins, all over a mile, but just as importantly, his two unplaced runs as well. In the first of those defeats, a low draw convinced Callan to ride the son of Holy Roman Emperor handy, a tactic he won't repeat tomorrow from barrier two.

"Just because he pulled a good draw, we won't ride him any differently to last start, we will just ride him patiently," Callan said.

"If he jumps well, we'll see where he lands - but I won't be digging him up to hold a position. The main thing is letting the horse find his feet.

"I agree with Tony that he will love this trip, but he will improve even more in the Derby. He is a straightforward, relaxed horse - the more racing he gets, the more he grows and matures."

Peniaphobia finds himself in a rematch with his International Day conqueror Aerovelocity and in a similar set of circumstances, drawn one stall inside his rival - this time jumping from gate three, rather than seven.

While Aerovelocity has been freshened since his neck victory in the Hong Kong Sprint two months ago, jockey Douglas Whyte says Peniaphobia has continued to make the natural improvement expected of a horse that officially turned four on January 1."Every time he has gone to the races he has got better, mentally and physically," Whyte said. "I haven't been on him since the straight race, but I don't think that run would have done him any harm, and if anything it would have toughened him up.

"Now he gets back to his comfort zone around a turn and back to his pet distance."

Despite both jockey and trainer agreeing that 1,200m is Peniaphobia's best distance, Cruz has penciled in the US$1million Al Quoz Sprint, over a straight 1,000m, as the next start for his sprinter, opting against the US$2million Golden Shaheen and 1,200m on the dirt.

"There is the unknown of the surface and I'm also unsure if he will be as good around a left-hand turn now," Cruz said.