O'Brien, Joseph C.
Harness Racing
b. June 25, 1917, Alberton, PEI
d. Sept. 29, 1984
O'Brien trained and drove Scott Frost, the harness horse of the year in 1955 and 1956. The first horse to win the trotting triple crown--the Hambletonian, Kentucky Futurity, and Yonkers Futurity--Scott Frost won 23 of 28 races in 1955 and earned $186,101, a record at the time.
In 1956, Scott Frost finished a close second to Galophone in his first two races and then won 17 in a row. He had seven clockings of less than 2 minutes in the mile; his best time was 1:58 3/5 at Hollywood Park in 1956.
O'Brien began driving on fairground tracks when he was thirteen. In 1946, he started racing on the grand circuit and soon became one of its top drivers. He won the Kentucky Futurity four times, the Hambletonian twice, and was the second driver to have more than 2,000 official victories. His career winnings surpassed $7 million.
All of the pacers O'Brien trained wore shadow rolls because he had the unusual theory that, if they saw they were wearing hobbles, they'd think their legs were tied together and would fall down as a result.