I Am Spider Man

The most interesting thread in this horse's story is what happens at Sligo. On a general racecourse, I Am Spider Man is a solid but unremarkable competitor. At Sligo, something changes: 2 wins from just 3 visits, which works out to winning 2 in every 3 races there. That is a genuinely striking record for any horse at any track, and it suggests the course — perhaps its tight turns, or the way it tends to ride — simply suits this horse in a way most places do not. The last of those Sligo wins came in July 2024, around 23 months ago now, so it has been a while, but that track record does not just disappear.

The partnership with jockey Philip Byrnes is worth noting too. Of the 14 races they have ridden together, Byrnes has been aboard for all 3 career wins — a win rate of 21%, or just over 1 in every 5 races together. That is more than double the horse's overall career average, which tells you the combination works in a way that others have not quite managed to replicate.

I Am Spider Man is trained by Barry John Murphy out of Caerfyrddin in Carmarthenshire, a yard that has sent out 1 winner so far this season. The horse competes mostly at Class 4 level — a solid, mid-tier grade — and has won 1 of its 7 races at that level, so it is competing in the right sort of company without dominating it. The most recent run was just yesterday, so this is a horse very much in active campaign mode, even if the win column has been quiet for the best part of two years. Six races without a win is a stretch, but with Sligo on the horizon and Byrnes in the saddle, there is a clear and specific set of circumstances under which I Am Spider Man becomes a very different proposition.