Jockey Lambert to retire next month

Jockey Casey Lambert is nearing retirement. The winner of more than 3,000 races plans to call it a career following the close of the Ruidoso Downs meet Sept. 7, the New Mexico track announced Friday. Lambert will turn 50 on Aug. 24.

Lambert has ridden races for nearly 35 years. His first win came Aug. 29, 1981, at Ruidoso Downs. Since then, Lambert has compiled 3,049 wins from 24,398 starts, according to Daily Racing Form statistics. His mounts have earned more than $39 million. Lambert ranks second in the Thoroughbred standings at the mixed meet at Ruidoso.

“I’ve been riding really well, but I’ve decided that it’s time,” Lambert said of retiring. “I’ve always had in the back of my mind that when my boys graduate from high school, that’s when I would start to wind it up. Now it’s been a couple of years past that, and I’m turning 50 this summer. I’m ready to start a new chapter in my life.”

Lambert began race riding at 16. His father, Cliff Lambert, is a former jockey who won the inaugural All American Futurity in 1959 and now trains in New Mexico. Casey Lambert registered one of the most prestigious wins of his career aboard Heritage of Gold in the Grade 2 Molly Pitcher in 1999.

Earlier this year, Casey Lambert won the Riley Allison Derby aboard Cinco Charlie. The rider’s host of regional stakes winners include such familiar names as Ky’s Quest, Lights on Broadway, Miss Ritz, Premeditation, Rose’s Desert, and Wild Hits.

Lambert also rode Mine That Bird in two starts in New Mexico in 2009, finishing second aboard the horse in the Borderland Derby then fourth in the Sunland Park Derby. Mine That Bird would go on to win the Kentucky Derby at 50-1 under jockey Calvin Borel.

“There’s no doubt that the stars aligned that day for that horse in the Kentucky Derby,” Lambert said in a release from Ruidoso. “Calvin Borel was the perfect rider and got that horse through on the rail when no one else would have been able to. I’m very happy for all those connections and for Mine That Bird.”

Lambert said he plans to remain working in racing and might turn to training after he retires from the saddle.

“I’m not making a big deal out of retiring,” he said. “I’m still going to be around the horses and might try my hand at training. I’m thankful to my family and friends for all their support through the years.”