Shaw looks to have the right ammunition

– Southwell’s card today can be dominated by bargain basement purchases from the stable of Derek Shaw, with HAMMER GUN leading the way in the sunbets.co.uk Handicap.

The former inmate of Sir Michael Stoute’s stable was bred by The Queen and used to lead Group

London

1 horses on the gallops in Newmarket.

Having lost his way, he changed hands for relatively small beer, but has found a new dimension with three straight victories on sand this year.

Returning to Fibresand after a tenacious success on Polytrack at Chelmsford City, Hammer Gun can stretch that sequence to four under a penalty.

TREATY OF ROME is a pea out of the same pod and should benefit from a step up the distance ladder in the Betway Sprint Handicap.

He was similarly bought cheaply out of the powerful Coolmore operation by Hong Kong-based toymaker John Saville and has run well on all five visits to this track.

For a horse who has experienced leg problems, the deeper Fibresand surface helps his cause and Shaw has done equally well with the five-year-old, and stepping back to 1200m from the minimum distance can prove the key.