‘Shawsy’ returns after a decade in racing wilderness
Garrick Knight - Raceform • August 7th, 2025 4:29 PM • 19 min read
As far as hobbies go, Tony Shaw has found one that most part-time trainers would be envious of.
The longtime Waikato horseman, best known for his deeds driving champion pacer Yulestar at the turn of the century, returns to racing at Alexandra Park on Friday night.
He’ll line a horse up as a trainer for the first time in more than a decade and, just as notably he’s now part-owner of one of the country’s best horses.
Since being forced into race driving retirement after a sickening accident at Alexandra Park in 2008 nearly killed him, Shaw has focussed on developing his nationwide cartage business, TFS Horse Transport, based in Morrinsville.
He trained a couple of horses for a while after his accident but gave it away in 2014 as his business continued to swell.
“Because I couldn’t get my driver's licence back, I started training a few and sort of quite enjoyed it, but I never really had the time for it due to my business,” Shaw told RaceForm earlier this week.
“Now, 10 years on, it’s up and running and I have the right staff around me that I can spend a little bit of time with the horses.”
The genesis of the idea to sink his teeth back into horse work was when New Zealand’s most successful standardbred horseman, Mark Purdon, started training his boutique stable of stars at the Morrinsville track every so often.
“Mark started bringing his horses over to Morrinsville – Millwood Nike and Oscar Bonavena initially – and I just started helping him out. After a while, I thought I might try and find one to lease for myself.
“My base in Christchurch is at Graham Court’s and one day when I was there, he said I’ve got one you can lease.
“It gets a knee a bit, but I think it will be better the Auckland way around.”
That horse was Wotsonyamind, a well-performed six-year-old, who resumes with Purdon donning Shaw’s colours at Alexandra Park on Friday night. (Race 4)
“He hasn’t raced since December because he had strained a tendon at the back of a fetlock, but it seems to be holding together well.
“He hasn’t trialled and he will benefit from the run, but we have to start somewhere.”
Purdon is based half an hour away in Matamata and has obligations to other horses, so most of his standardbreds are now based at Morrinsville, with Shaw providing the day-to-day care.
The most interesting among them is Akuta, indisputably one New Zealand’s best pacers when he broke down at the start of last year.
Shaw says Purdon has been circumspect about Akuta making it back to the track during his entire convalescence, but the horse has continued to reach every target set along the way during what is now an 18-month recovery programme.
“When we first started with him, Mark said he didn’t know how far he would get because his leg had been buggered – he had all but severed the tendon.”
As a thanks to Shaw’s diligence and commitment, Purdon recently surprised him with a share in Akuta.
“That was totally out of left field and just something he said he wanted to do. It was very generous of him.”
Akuta also resumes on Friday night at Alexandra Park as easily the best-credentialed horse in the $20,000 World’s Best Hoof Oil Mobile Pace. His rating of 115 eclipses more than half of the field that are rated 60 or lower in the 1700-metre mobile.
Shaw says while on paper Akuta looks ‘thrown in’, that is far from the case given his lack of race fitness, a wide draw and a concession driver.
“I took him to Auckland last Friday, and Mark drove him in work with Nathan (Purdon) and they were both really happy with him. He just needs racing now.
“Mark has always said that if he ever felt like the horse had lost the will to be a racehorse, he would retire him, but that hasn’t happened.”
Wotsonyamind also made the trip to Pukekohe and pleased in his work, according to Shaw.
“Nathan drove him and said he worked well enough to bang him in at the races.”
Morrinsville is a bit of a training outpost compared to Cambridge and Pukekohe, but it doesn’t lack for talent – both equine and human.
Curiously, half of the trainers who use the Scott Reserve facility have won a New Zealand Cup, with 2002 winner Gracious Knight’s co-trainer Warren Rich also based there.
“Mark comes over and drives most of the fast work with his team, then there’s Warren, Phil Coppins, Trevor Phillips and Danielle Green, who each have a couple.
“Phil does the track and keeps it in mint condition from limited resources.
“Mark keeps commenting how good the track is – not too hard, not too soft – and he’s about the best person you could get feedback from.”
The last 20 years haven’t gone as Shaw would have envisaged after his earlier success winning the New Zealand Cup, Inter Dominions and Hunter Cup with Yulestar.
He nearly died and had to have part of his skull removed after that race smash, where his cart ‘sling-shotted’ on to his head and only his helmet spared his life. More recently, he lost his 14-year-old son Hugo in a tragic cycling accident in 2021.
But horses have a funny way of providing a distraction for people and in this instance, they’ve been the impetus for Shaw to find his feet again after two major setbacks.
And he’s loving it.
“I went out with a jog team this morning which had Oscar Bonaena in the cart and Akuta and Chase The Dream on the leads.
“That’s the best jog term in the world. I’m very lucky and thankful to Mark for giving me the chance to work such nice horses again.”
