Jim's uncle Bud Hebert (who was the race caller at the Miracle Mile at the time) invited him to come there from his then home in Springfield, Mass. and take the job of Clerk of Course. He soon became the assistant race secretary at Vernon and began calling races when his uncle was away in 1963. His career took off swiftly and he was named full time race caller in 1964. A year later he joined the publicity department under the tutelage of Don Evans. When Evans left to become editor of Hoof Beats magazine in 1975, Moran took over as director of publicity and public relations at Vernon Downs. Jim has held all these positions until just recently when he cut back his busy schedule.

During his career of over 20,000 races called, Jim has had the opportunity to see many of the greats perform and describe their efforts to the many fans that have come to the central New York oval night after night. But his longevity also provided him the chance to call champions from several generations including Bret Hanover, Niatross, and Deweycheatumnhowe! When My Little Dragon broke the track record and paced the first ever sub-1.50 mile at Vernon, Jims professionalism overcame his love for that track as his voice never wavered until the race was over, and then his excitement showed while stating the new record and historical milestone.

His journalistic prowess has been displayed in print and electronic media for decades. His knowledge of the sport he covers is second to none and he still displays his statistical magic in his “Downs Doings” column, which he made famous over the years. Another amazing fact; people close to the man tell me is that in the many years he has worked in the media, he has only ever missed two days of work. That alone speaks volumes of the dedication to his craft.

Moran is a past president (1992-1993) & chairman of the board of the North America Harness Publicists Association and was the Golden Pen Award recipient in 1990. In addition to serving as an alternate director of Harness Tracks of America, Moran has been a member of the Vernon Chapter-USHWA since the mid-1970's and has been the group's secretary/treasurer since 1978.

He has also been employed by harness racing tracks in Arizona (Phoenix Trotting Park), Delaware (Georgetown Raceway), Illinois (Aurora Downs) and New York (Buffalo Raceway, the Syracuse Mile and many different upstate New York fairs). Moran was promoted to assistant racing secretary at Vernon Downs in 1964, worked in the track's program department in 1965 and has been publicizing the sport ever since.  Moran was also inducted into the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.