Jim Byers

When Remington Park named its first track announcer prior to the September 1, 1988 opening, management had little idea they had struck gold with Jim Byers.

Only 28 when he was declared the first voice of Remington Park, Byers had compiled years of experience after he was the Graduate of the Year from the San Diego State journalism school in 1982. While in college, Byers worked weekends in the publicity department at Agua Caliente in Tijuana, Mexico. It was there he began practice-calling the horse races.

Always a sports fan while growing up in suburban Chicago in Arlington Heights, Illinois, the home of Arlington Park, Byers first thought about a life in broadcasting while listening to Harry Caray and Jack Brickhouse as they called major league baseball with the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs respectively. He also developed a fascination with the public address announcers at any sporting event he attended with his family, further setting up a career path. Byers and his family moved to the suburbs of Los Angeles when he was in his early teens, gaining even more exposure to all sports and racing, year-round.

Practice paid off for Byers when he was hired as the backup announcer at Del Mar near San Diego in 1983. He parlayed that experience, gaining the backup role at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif. Eventually, he achieved number-one status as the announcer at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, Calif. in 1984.

Remington Park had good fortune from the start, finding its goose that laid the golden eggs of professional race calling for the first 11 years of its existence. Byers’ voice was rich, fluent and exact, while producing nearly flawless calls each and every day.

Byers said his most memorable call had to be the 1989 Remington Park Derby (now the Oklahoma Derby) won by Clever Trevor, the local hero of owner Don McNeill. Trained by Donnie Von Hemel and ridden by Don Pettinger, Clever Trevor helped put the fledgling Remington Park on the national racing map. He would go on to become a millionaire, win 15-of-30 races and finish second to the legendary Easy Goer in the Travers Stakes in 1989. The horse and all of his connections preceded Byers in the Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

“That was such a big deal back then because all these big-time shippers had come in, D. Wayne Lukas sent in one, to win Remington’s first big race and here’s this little local horse that would prevail,” said Byers. “It was magical. Now, to be named in the same Hall of Fame, it’s such an honor. You don’t walk around, wondering if this kind of thing will happen, and when it does, I just want to say I’m excited. It means a tremendous amount to me. I’m very grateful.”

Byers called other grand Remington Park winners such as Silver Goblin who fittingly, goes into the Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Fame the same year as the man who called all his races in Oklahoma City. Along with the horses of great stature, Byers said he always enjoyed calling the horses without those accolades, especially if they had challenging names. He is remembered for being perfect in his call of a stretch run of two of the biggest tongue twisters – Pop Pop BB Gun and Run Run Runaway. Byers said the one that finally got him at Remington Park was See the Seashells.

Byers left Remington Park for play-by-play gigs calling Oklahoma City RedHawks minor league baseball (1999-2010) along with the Oklahoma City Blazers (2005-2009) and Oklahoma City Barons (2011-2015) minor league hockey teams. He also called hockey games for the Tulsa Oilers from 1997-1999.

Byers returned to full-time horse race announcing at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas in 2016. He has called thousands of horse races and thousands of professional sporting events to near perfection, throughout a storied Hall of Fame career.