Jockey Scott Spieth notched career victory 4,000 April 6 at Tampa Bay Downs and was immediately surrounded in the winner's circle by his fellow riders (VIDEO).
The 45-year-old Spieth eloquently put into words how he felt following his 5 ¼-length victory aboard Reid Nagle’s 4-year-old filly Ula in the seventh race, a $20,500 maiden special weight at five furlongs for fillies and mares.
“It really makes me feel good because I have a lot of friends in the jock’s room, and everybody in there knows how much of a grind it is and how hard it is to get to your goals,” Spieth said.
“Fortunately things have gone well for me, but it means a lot that all the riders are here for me. I also have to thank all the trainers who have stayed behind me and thank my family, because there is a lot of dedication required in this business.”
Spieth rode three winners on Friday’s card, giving him consecutive three-victory performances at the Oldsmar, Fla. track. He followed up right away with victory No. 4,001. In the eighth race, another five-furlong maiden special weight, aboard Lori Smock’s 5-year-old first-time starter Photo Session, he won at odds of 11-1.
He said his ultimate goal would be to reach 5,000.
Spieth and his wife Rhonda Swan Spieth, also a jockey, have three daughters and two sons. Kirsten Swan, Scott’s stepdaughter and another jockey, currently works in Lexington. The Spieths reside on a 13-acre spread in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.
“My daughter Valerie, who is 5, has been riding our horses since she was 2, and I think she is going to be a jockey,” Spieth observed recently. “She would rather watch race replays than cartoons, so I’m in trouble with that one.
“I’m sure I will get a lot of phone calls when I get home, from my parents in Michigan and my family in Ohio. I love that it is 4,000, but there are so many more races ahead of me. I try to focus on what is next.”
Spieth currently is seventh in the Tampa Bay Downs jockey standings with 30 victories. Last year, he was the top money-winning jockey at Presque Isle Downs in Erie, Pa., with earnings of $2.3 million, and third in victories with 89.
He finished 2011 with almost $3.4 million in purse earnings, his best figure since 2006. In October, he won three stakes on the Best of Ohio card at Thistledown.
Scott Spieth celebrates with his fellow riders after win number 4,000.
