I Am Spider Man

The partnership with jockey Philip Byrnes tells a similar story. Together they've won 3 of their 14 races, which works out at roughly 1 in every 5 — more than double the horse's overall win rate. That's a meaningful difference, and it points to a combination that works. When Byrnes is in the saddle and Sligo is on the card, I Am Spider Man becomes a very different proposition to the one the raw numbers suggest.

That said, the current run of form gives pause. The horse hasn't won in its last six races, and the most recent sequence — a second, a seventh, a non-completion, then a sixth, seventh and tenth — suggests something has become harder to find. The last win came at Sligo in July 2024, which is now almost two years ago. Trained by Barry John Murphy out of Caerfyrddin in Carmarthenshire, I Am Spider Man raced just yesterday, so the yard are clearly keeping the horse active and looking for that next opportunity.

Most of its racing has come at Class 4 level — solid, competitive races without being at the very top of the sport — and it has won 1 from 7 at that grade, or about 1 in every 7 attempts. That's a modest return, but horses like this are rarely about the numbers alone. They're about finding the right day, the right track, the right conditions. For I Am Spider Man, the formula has been clear enough: get to Sligo, get Byrnes on board, and wait. The only question now is whether that magic combination comes around again before the clock runs out on a career that has already stretched nine years.