Hall of Famer Sam Boulmetis Sr. dead at 94

Sam Boulmetis Sr., whose Hall of Fame riding career was followed by a lengthy tenure as a highly respected racing official in New Jersey, died Sunday evening in Red Bank, N.J., following a lengthy illness. He was 94.

Boulmetis’s daughter Kim said her father died peacefully at River View Hospital, not far from his home in Rumson, shortly after being transported there earlier in the day. He had suffered from dementia in recent years.

Boulmetis, the son of a Greek tailor, was born and raised in Maryland, where in his teens he went to work as a stablehand at Laurel. He began riding races in 1948 and soon became a top jockey up and down the East Coast, earning four riding titles at Monmouth Park from 1949 to 1956.

Boulmetis’s 2,783 career wins included victories in numerous major races of his era, most notably the Washington, D.C. International, Brooklyn Handicap, United Nations, Pimlico Special, and Massachusetts Handicap, and his top mounts included such standouts as Bally Ache, Fisherman, and Tosmah. He was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., in 1973.

Boulmetis retired from riding in 1966, serving as president of the Jockeys’ Guild from 1962-67. He was appointed a steward at Monmouth in 1969 and served 35 years prior to his retirement in 2004. He was widely known as firm but kind, a steward who commanded respect because of his extensive knowledge and experience while endearing himself to horsemen and colleagues all the while.

Boulmetis is survived by his wife, Lillian “Bebe” Boulmetis, to whom he was married for 69 years. They met at a stoplight in Miami in early 1951, when he was riding the Florida circuit, and were married in March 1952. The couple had five children – sons Sam Jr. and Jimmy, both lifelong racetrackers, along with daughters Jane, Susan, and Kim.

Sam Boulmetis Jr. followed in his father’s same footsteps, working as a jockey for eight years before being paralyzed from the waist down in a 1981 spill at Pimlico. He, too, eventually became a racing official, retiring as a steward from Parx in 2009. Jimmy Boulmetis was a trainer from 1984-97 and now works as a jockey agent based at Parx.

Boulmetis also is survived by three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Funeral arrangements were still pending Monday.