He was educated at Winchester, Brighton and Eton, and admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge on 11 June 1879.

After a fall at Sandown Park Racecourse in 1892 he decided to take up training and in 1893 he was appointed trainer to the 16th Earl of Derby at Bedford Lodge stables in Newmarket, Suffolk.

George Lambton trained the winners of ten British Classic Races for the Earl including The Derby with Sansovino in 1924 and Hyperion in 1933.

In 1926 Lambton was replaced by Frank Butters as Lord Derby's trainer but remained as his racing manager and resumed training for the Earl in 1931.

He lived at Mesnil Warren (a house extended for him by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1925), Newmarket.