Three of the last four Hong Kong Champion Griffins have been sourced from New Zealand, and the Kiwis were the first to strike this term, with The All Out taking out the Racing For Charity Plate (1000m), the opening Griffins race of the season, at Sha Tin on Sunday.

Bred by Cambridge Stud principals Brendan and Jo Lindsay, The All Out was offered through the farm’s 2024 New Zealand Book 1 Yearling Sale draft where he was purchased by expat Kiwi trainer Jamie Richards and bloodstock agent Andrew Williams for $150,000.

There was plenty of expectation surrounding the two-year-old son of Brutal heading into his debut run on Sunday, and Hong Kong champion jockey Zac Purton was able to reward their backers with a short-head victory.

“I would have liked to see him win a little easier, but a win's a win. He's got more improvement to come - he's a big, strong horse and he'll improve with more racing,” Richards said.

“It didn't go exactly to plan, he got a bit softened up in front and the horse that ran second got an easy time of it and was going to be strong late after trialling well at Conghua earlier in the week.

“But The All Out's got more scope for improvement yet, so hopefully he can go on with the job.”