Derek Shaw - Racehorse Trainer

Derek was born and bred in Nottinghamshire. His career and love of horse racing took off when he signed on as an apprentice jockey when just 16. He went on to be a professional jump jockey for 11 years before becoming a Trainer in December 1991.

As a teenager his father Gerald introduced him to Eric Collingwood and Derek began helping out at the stables during school holidays. Gerald had himself owned racehorses and said about his son “He never wanted to do anything else”. Derek gained sound racing experience under the guidance of Eric Collingwood at Middleham before moving on to race for MW Easterby at Malton for 2 years, where he was in charge of the 1977 Guineas winner, Mrs McArdy.

He then moved on to spend five years with Russ Hobson then five years as assistant with Roy Bowring

at Edwinstowe, Notts. Derek started with two horses there and went on to send out 20 winners in five years with everything from three-mile chasers to five-furlong sprinters. “In my last year there we had eight winners on the flat from five horses.”
Derek then spent three years with John Mackie and had ridden around 35 winners over jumps before taking up a new post training for Mr Patrick Sheehan in Ashington Sussex. Derek’s first winner was a 50-1 shot Coleridge in the Cystic Fibrosis Research Cup at Doncaster in march 1992.

Derek then went to Averham Park and designed a purpose built state of the art race horse training centre for Mr John Fretwell. Derek trained at Averham Park for seven years and had 160 winners. Derek then went on to design and build his own race-yard from scratch and train for Danethorpe Racing Ltd. In the summer of 2007 Derek took an opportunity to take over the yard and started Derek Shaw Racing Ltd.  Derek went from strength to strength regularly being one of the Top All Weather Trainers in the country. The first winter of Derek Shaw Racing trading Derek was the top numerical all weather trainer in the country. Whilst training from his Danethorpe base he exceeded his wins at Averham having over 170 winners and hundreds of placings. The horses are always turned out immaculately and are known for regularly winning the Best Turned out prize at the races.

Deciding who you want to train your racehorse is a very important and big decision as big if not bigger than choosing and purchasing your horse itself. It is important you find a trainer you are comfortable with as well as your horses getting the best possible care and training and a trainer who puts your horse first wherever possible on and off the track. This all makes the thrill of owning a racehorse a real pleasure.
Individual treatment is extremely important to Derek, who is known for being successful with some wayward or difficult horses in the past.

Derek has now “gone it alone” and purchased his own training establishment with his wife Lyndsey which they purchased from Norma McCauley who was a successful trainer from the new yard at Sproxton which is between Grantham and Melton Mowbray. The yard has been totally revamped and the gallop surface renewed and extra facilities put in and it’s looking fantastic. Since moving the horses to the new yard Derek has started to fly again with 6 winners in the first few months of moving. Derek hopes to now settle and build on his previous success and hopefully go on to train winners in Group Races.