In the present day, he is primarily remembered for giving a Triple Crown champion his first defeat. While it was certainly a huge victory, the moment would become a double-edged sword for this Thoroughbred.

Originally hailing from the state of Maryland, J.O. Tobin spent his first season racing exclusively in Europe while being trained by Noel Murless. Owned and bred by George A. Pope, Jr. and ridden by legendary jockey Lester Piggott, no one could beat J.O. Tobin in England. He racked up three stakes victories sprinting on the turf, two of which were in the group category. He then headed to France for another stakes race at a mile, finishing third.

Winning at three different English racetracks in Newmarket, Goodwood and Doncaster, J.O. Tobin picked up champion two-year old honors in England for his work as a juvenile. Still in the early portion of his career, the colt made it clear he was a classy horse with a talent for the turf and for sprinting.

Those facts made the 1977 season an ironic one for J.O. Tobin. Leaving Europe for California, he competed in only one race under a mile while in the John H. Adams barn. That happened to be his North American debut at Santa Anita, where he took second in an exhibition on the main track with legendary rider Bill Shoemaker aboard in mid-March. He got back on turf when he tried the one-mile Coronado Handicap at Hollywood Park at the close of April, and later beat allowance company going a mile and an eighth on the grass over the same course. Those would be the only two starts on turf for J.O. Tobin that year, and in between those excursions was a trip to the Preakness Stakes.

However, Pimlico did not go well for the Never Bend colt. A bad start caused him to be well off the pace early. Even so, he did make up ground to take fifth as Seattle Slew went on to take the second jewel of the Triple Crown en route to handling his rivals in the Belmont Stakes. But J.O. Tobin would get another chance against Seattle Slew several weeks later.

On July 3, racing fans headed out to Hollywood Park to see the first Triple Crown winner make a start there in over a quarter-century. Following Citation in the 1951 Hollywood Gold Cup, Seattle Slew showed up as the headliner in the Grade I Swaps Stakes at ten furlongs. To the surprise of no one, Seattle Slew went off favored at 1-5. But people were not sleeping on J.O. Tobin, making him about 3-1 in the wagering.

The start went better this time, and J.O. Tobin went to the front early while Seattle Slew pursued in second along the inside. The Triple Crown champion got to within a length just before the backstretch, but could not catch the leader as he battled with Text. Meanwhile, J.O. Tobin was cruising around Hollywood Park, setting fractions of :22 2/5, :45 2/5 and 1:09 1/5 for the first three splits. He and Shoemaker had opened up a clear lead around the far turn, and they covered a mile in 1:33 3/5. Seattle Slew was several lengths down at the top of the stretch, and he would not make up the gap.

J.O. Tobin was in a class of his own in the stretch, romping home in a spectacular final time of 1:58 3/5. He evened the score against Seattle Slew, and the performance makes one wonder what may have happened in the Preakness with a better start.

The next start did not happen until September, when J.O. Tobin headed East to Belmont Park for the Grade I Woodward over a sloppy track. The result was a fifth place to close out 1977, but it was still a nice year for the colt as he took a pair of stakes and stood as the first horse to defeat Seattle Slew.

J.O. Tobin returned for the 1978 campaign, and the year was divided into three phases. Now conditioned by Lazaro Barrera, J.O. Tobin spent the winter and early spring at Santa Anita. Starting in all three rounds of the Strub Series, he got the year off to a great start by winning the Grade II Malibu Stakes in the slop on New Year's Day with Steve Cauthen in the irons. He would team with Cauthen for every start in Arcadia, and they took second in the Grade II San Fernando and third in the Grade I Charles H. Strub (both of which were run over sloppy surfaces as well). He returned to turf that spring, winning the Grade II San Bernardino at nine panels.

The second act of 1978 came at Hollywood Park. Again, Cauthen was aboard for all four outings at the Track of the Lakes and Flowers, and J.O. Tobin thrived at the site of his biggest victory. He got it started by leading at every split and dominating his rivals in the mile and one-sixteenth Premiere Handicap, and he followed that up with the winner's purse in the Grade II Los Angeles Handicap at seven furlongs. Next came a score in the Grade I Californian, also at a mile and one-sixteenth, with the only blemish being a fourth in the Grade I Hollywood Gold Cup.

Act three saw J.O. Tobin head back East, where he atoned for the Woodward defeat by winning the seven furlong Tom Fool Handicap in a terrific 1:20 4/5 while teaming with Jeff Fell. The last two starts of his career were both off the board efforts in the Grade II Whitney at Saratoga and an allowance at Belmont Park, but taking three sprints (two of which were graded) at three major racetracks gave J.O. Tobin the title of Champion Sprinter for 1978 in his last season at the races.

In a twenty-one race career, J.O. Tobin won twelve races, collected two seconds and two thirds. He won an equal number of sprints and routes, won at multiple racetracks in England and the United States, handled dirt and turf, was able to stalk the pace or control it early, won ten stakes (seven of them graded, two of them group) and was voted a champion in two of his three campaigns.

But when the name of J.O. Tobin is mentioned, the inevitable association with Seattle Slew immediately comes to mind. That victory over racing's tenth Triple Crown champion undoubtedly gave the colt a permanent page in racing history. But at the same time, it would cast a fog over the accomplished career of a truly remarkable Thoroughbred with all-around talent.