The clearest evidence of that is his partnership with Buraback, which stands apart from everything else in his record. Seven wins from 40 races together is a remarkable relationship between trainer and horse — that is winning nearly 1 in every 6 times they have lined up, well above the yard's overall average. When a trainer and a single horse click like that, it usually means someone has taken the time to understand exactly what that animal needs. Shaw has clearly cracked the code with this one.
Wolverhampton has become a useful hunting ground for the yard. Three winners from 69 runners there might not sound like a lot, but all-weather tracks like Wolverhampton reward trainers who understand the surface and know which horses run well on it. Returning to the same track repeatedly with the right horses is a deliberate, intelligent strategy rather than a scattergun approach.
Shaw's most productive partnership in the saddle is with jockey Joanna Mason, who has ridden 4 winners from 35 of his runners — a win rate of around 11%, or roughly 1 in every 9 rides. That is nearly three times better than the yard's overall figure, which suggests Mason and Shaw are well matched in how they read a race. When trainers and jockeys develop a genuine understanding, it often shows up in the numbers before anyone else notices, and that gap is hard to ignore.
Shaw is not a trainer making headlines yet, but the foundations are there. A standout horse in Buraback, a reliable jockey partnership, and a growing familiarity with specific tracks — these are the building blocks of a yard on the way up rather than one treading water.
| Course | Races | Wins | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wolverhampton | 69 | 3 | 4.3% |
| Southwell | 48 | 2 | 4.2% |
| Newcastle | 7 | 0 | 0% |
| chelmsford | 6 | 1 | 16.7% |
| Doncaster | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Beverley | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Great Yarmouth | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Worcester | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Lingfield Park | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Leicester | 1 | 0 | 0% |