Jerry Lambert (December 27, 1940 – February 23, 2015) was an American

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

in the sport of

Thoroughbred horse racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in t ...

best known as the jockey of

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

inductee,

Native Diver Native Diver (April 16, 1959 – September 13, 1967) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Native Diver's nicknames included "the Diver," "The California Comet" and "The Black Horse." He compiled 34 stakes wins throughout his career, but never ...

. Lambert accomplished what Breeders' Cup Inc. calls "one of California’s top racing achievements" when he rode Native Diver to victory in three straight

Hollywood Gold Cup The Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes is a Grade I American thoroughbred horse race for horses age three and older over a distance of miles on the dirt held at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California in May. The race currently offers a purse of $400,000. ...

s from 1965 through 1967. In 1963, Lambert was the leading jockey at Ak-Sar-Ben Racetrack meet in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

, as well as at

Turf Paradise Race Course Turf Paradise is a thoroughbred and quarter horse racetrack located at 19th Avenue and Bell Road, in the Deer Valley section of Phoenix, Arizona in the United States. It opened in 1956. It is owned and operated by local entrepreneur Jerry Simms. ...

meet that same year. In 1967, he won a riding title at

Del Mar Racetrack The Del Mar Fairgrounds is a event venue in Del Mar, California. The annual San Diego County Fair is held here, which was called the Del Mar Fair from 1984 to 2001. In 1936, the Del Mar Racetrack was built by the Thoroughbred Club with foundin ...

, then in 1968 at

Santa Anita Park Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious races ...

Santa Anita Park Media Guide
/ref> and at the

Oak Tree Racing Association The Oak Tree Racing Association is an American nonprofit corporation that exists to conduct live thoroughbred horse racing in Southern California. Graded Stakes races at the Oak Tree meet Since Oak Tree Racing moved to Hollywood Park in 2010, some ...

meet in 1972. In the June 3, 1972,

Vanity Handicap The Beholder Mile Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares aged three and up. It is run over a distance of one mile on the dirt each year in March at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. History The event was ...

at Hollywood Park Racetrack, Lambert rode

Convenience Convenient procedures, products and services are those intended to increase ease in accessibility, save resources (such as time, effort and energy) and decrease frustration. A modern convenience is a labor-saving device, service or substance ...

to a half-length victory over the heavily favored

Typecast In film, television, and theatre, typecasting is the process by which a particular actor becomes strongly identified with a specific character, one or more particular roles, or characters having the same traits or coming from the same social or ...

, who had beaten Convenience by six lengths in the May 18

Milady Handicap The Adoration Stakes (formerly known as the Milady Handicap) is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually during May at Santa Anita Park. The event is open to fillies and mares, age three and up, willing to race one and one-sixteenth miles ...

on the same track. Those results prompted owners

Leonard Lavin Leonard H. Lavin (October 29, 1919 – August 2, 2017) was an American businessman, racehorse owner and breeder, and philanthropist, who, in 1955 founded the Alberto-Culver Company.

and Fletcher Jones to agree to a $250,000 winner-take-all event

match race A match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head. In sailboat racing it is differentiated from a fleet race, which almost always involves three or more competitors competing against each other, and team racing where teams consis ...

that was the richest match race at that point in American history. On June 17, 1972, in front of 53,575 patrons at Hollywood Park Racetrack, Lambert and Convenience won by a head over the favored Typecast. One week later, Lambert rode Typecast to victory over Shoemaker and

Cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large Felidae, cat native to the Americas. Its Species distribution, range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mamm ...

in the

Hollywood Invitational Turf Handicap The Charles Whittingham Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for horses age three years old and older over a distance of miles on the turf held annually in late May at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, USA. The event cur ...

. During his career, Lambert won 54 stakes races at

Hollywood Park Racetrack Hollywood Park was a thoroughbred race course located in Inglewood, California, about 3 miles (5 km) from Los Angeles International Airport and adjacent to the Forum indoor arena. In 1994, the original Hollywood Park Casino was added to the ...

, 30 stakes races at

and 42 stakes races at

In 1971, Lambert was voted the

George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award The George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award has been presented by Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, annually since 1950 to the thoroughbred horse racing jockey in North America who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional conduct ...

, given to the thoroughbred jockey in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional conduct, on and off the racetrack. Retired, in later years Lambert helped break horses for Rich and Gaby Sulpizio'
Magali Farms
in

Santa Ynez, California Santa Ynez (; Spanish for "St. Agnes") is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Santa Ynez Valley of Santa Barbara County, California. The town of Santa Ynez is one of the communities of the Santa Ynez Valley. It features the Santa Ynez Airport ...

. On October 2, 2009, the HRTV show "Inside Information" profiled and interviewed Lambert at Magali Farms. He died 2-23-2015, aged 74. Lacey Rene Lambert, his daughter, survived him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lambert, Jerry 1940 births 2015 deaths American jockeys People from Cloud County, Kansas