By design, Scott Spieth is riding sparingly this winter at Tampa Bay Downs. It’s not because he’s trying to hang on to reach a milestone. Spieth is closing on his 5,000th career victory, a feat only 34 other riders have accomplished in Thoroughbred racing. He won his 4,998th race Saturday, his fourth win from 18 mounts in 2024. The way Spieth sees it, he has already surpassed the 5,000-win plateau. “Right now, it’s another number,” Spieth, 57, said Sunday. “I rode the Quarter Horses for five years and if you counted those wins, I’d be way over it but they don’t add any of those wins. Five-thousand is a great number. There’s only about 40 of us that have hit the 5,000 mark, but I’m going to continue riding until my mind or my body says I can’t or don’t want to anymore.” Speith’s most recent winner came aboard Immortallove, who is trained by Speith’s wife of seven years, Aldina. The couple has 16 horses at Tampa this winter, with several young, unraced horses on the way. :: Get the Inside Track with the FREE DRF Morning Line Email Newsletter. Subscribe now.  “I don’t push it too hard at Tampa; I ride for my wife, try to build her business,” Spieth said. “During the winter, I help her a lot in the barn, exercise the horses. I don’t go out and hustle other barns too much.” Spieth has been riding for close to 40 years. He’s been a leading rider at Thistledown (2005, 2006) and Delaware Park (2017). He rode for many years in Detroit. More recently, he and his wife have split time between Presque Isle Downs in the summer and Tampa in the winter. With more dirt horses in the barn, however, they may go to Delaware this summer. “We’ve got a lot of young ones coming up, very excited for the summer,” Spieth said. The passion for riding, more than any milestone, is what keeps Spieth in the saddle. “I love what I do. If you’re going to be at the track at 5 in the morning and do it all day long till 5 in the afternoon, you have to love what you do,” he said. Spieth said he gets enjoyment developing young horses and believes his wife has a few good ones in the barn. One is the 3-year-old filly Yellow Feathers, a daughter of Bayern who, on Dec. 2, won a maiden race on dirt at Tampa by 9 1/2 lengths. Spieth said offers were made to buy the filly, but she remains with them and is getting some time off. “She’s probably a couple of months from running; she’s an April foal. We decided to give her a little time,” Spieth said. Aldina Spieth trains Dreaming of Kona, who in 2023 won the Mucho Macho Man Stakes at Gulfstream via disqualification. In his most recent start, Dreaming of Kona finished fifth in the Fred Hooper on Jan. 27 at Gulfstream. Scott Spieth said the plan is try that horse on the turf, a surface on which he finished fifth in last July’s Grade 3 Manila Stakes at Belmont Park. “It was a monster race and I didn’t think he liked that particular course,” Scott Spieth said. “I’m looking to find a spot to take another shot and see how much he likes it or not.” Spieth has one mount on each of the next two cards at Tampa, including Where Paradise Lay on Wednesday and Tapsolution, the latter trained by his wife, in a $6,250 claimer on Friday. “I anticipate me hitting that mark soon,” Spieth said. Spieth likes longshot Spieth’s next mount comes Wednesday aboard Where Paradise Lay in the day’s feature, a starter allowance/optional $25,000 claiming race going six furlongs. Where Paradise Lay is coming off an 8-1 upset win Jan. 21 in an optional $16,000 claimer/first-level allowance. This spot appears significantly tougher, with Spikezone looking like the one to catch and beat for trainer Jamie Ness. Spikezone is coming off a front-running, eight-length win against cheaper, but he earned a career-best 92 Beyer Speed Figure. Spikezone may have to deal with some pace pressure from Capture the Time, who won a $12,500 claimer by 5 1/2 lengths on Feb. 4. Spieth believes a speed duel would assist Where Paradise Lay, who will break from the rail. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. “He’s a solid little horse, I think he’s got a chance,” Spieth said. “With the pace in that race, I can sit where I want. I got a good post, I got a shot.” Road to Stardom, who finished second to Where Paradise Lay last out, came back to win a first-level allowance on Saturday with a 78 Beyer. Another contender in Wednesday’s six-horse field is Absolute Grit, who has finished second in three consecutive races at Gulfstream and now ships across the state to find some class relief for Rohan Crichton. Figureti, trained by Jose D’Angelo, has gone 2 for 2 this meet and should benefit from a pace duel. Desert Ruler comes off a win in his last start at Tampa after being disqualified from a victory for drifting out two starts back. ◗ The three scheduled turf races on Wednesday’s card – races 5, 7, and 9 – will be run on the main track, Tampa officials announced Sunday. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.