Louisville, Ky. - The official Kentucky Derby program lists Maurice, La., as the hometown of Keith and Kent Desormeaux, the trainer-jockey brother combination for the race's second favorite, Exaggerator. But Keith and Kent are actually from a tiny farming community on the plains of Vermillion Parish, a couple of miles outside of Maurice proper. To get there, you drive south of Maurice on Highway 167, take a right on Placide Road at the sugar cane fields, then go 1.6 miles to where the road Ts at Alfred Road. Across the street from a large crawfish pond sits the stately, two-story ranch house of Brenda and Harris Desormeaux.

This is where Keith and Kent Desormeaux first fell in love with horses as members of the local 4-H Club and began their journey to the pinnacle of horse racing. 'I was born and raised here,' Brenda Desormeaux said. 'We speak French and are proud of it. My dad is the one who bought Kent his first saddle.

Get the most reliable and up-to-date information on Kentucky Derby 2017. Our experts have covered everything from contenders to betting odds to schedule of 2017. Louisville, Ky. - The official Kentucky Derby program lists Maurice, La., as the hometown of Keith and Kent Desormeaux, the trainer-jockey brother combination for the.

There's always been a strong connection to this countryside.' And on Saturday afternoon, most of Maurice will be connected through their TV sets to the Kentucky Derby, where the pride of Cajun country, Keith and Kent Desormeaux, will try to become the first trainer-jockey brother combination to win the famed Run for the Roses. 'They could probably rob the whole town when the race starts on Saturday,' said Jeff Picard, a longtime family friend and former classmate of Keith's at North Vermillion High School. The 142nd Kentucky Derby features connections from across the country and from places as far flung as Japan. Thoroughbred blue bloods from Versailles, Ky., and Ocala, Fla., are represented.

But Maurice, which proudly bills itself as the Gateway to Vermillion Parish, would seem an unlikely spot to produce horse racing's most successful brother duo. Maurice still classifies itself as a village, even though it exceeds the state's official population threshold of 1,000. Mayor Wayne Theriot said Maurice's latest population figures top 1,700, an 80 percent increase from its 2010 U.S. Census figure, making it the seventh fastest-growing area in the state. Along the two-mile stretch of Highway 167 that bisects Maurice proper, there are two churches, two stoplights and three bars, including the world famous City Bar, home of the Cajun Bloody Mary. Maurice boasts a few other claims to fame.

One is Hebert's Meat Shop, a stuffed poultry vendor that helped make the turducken a holiday sensation. It's also a notorious speed trap, although Theriot insists otherwise. The village's most famous natives are actress Denise Boutte, who stars in the television sit-com 'Meet the Browns,' and, of course, the Desormeaux brothers.

'We grew up in a rural farming area, where the bush tracks were all around us, and our dad decided he might want to delve into horse racing and bought a bush track (the now defunct Acadiana Downs),' said Keith, who, at 49, is 3 years older than Kent. 'We lived in an agricultural area but we weren't farmers. Even before we got into racing, we all had horses to ride growing up.'

Kent and Keith Desormeaux of Maurice, La. Yahoo Voice Download. , on Saturday will try to become the first jockey-trainer brother combination to win the Kentucky Derby with the race's second favorite, Exaggerator. (Desormeaux family photo) Jeff Duncan, NOLA.com The Times-Picayune From Maurice, Keith and Kent Desormeaux traveled vastly different career paths to reach the Kentucky Derby.

To the dismay of his parents, Kent dropped out of high school at age 16 and enjoyed immediate success in his riding career. At 17, he won the Eclipse Award as the nation's top apprentice rider in 1987. Two years later, he set a national record for wins in a year with 598. Saturday will be Kent's 20 th Kentucky Derby mount. He is trying to join Eddie Arcaro (5), Bill Hartack (5) and Bill Shoemaker (4) as the only jockeys to win as many as four Kentucky Derbies. Kent won previously on Real Quiet (1998), Fusiachi Pegasus (2000) and Big Brown (2008). He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame in 2004.

But his career has also suffered a series of speed bumps because of a well-chronicled battle with alcohol. 'Kent was a tremendous athlete,' Brenda said.

'He excelled in whatever they put him in. He was tearing up the thoroughbred racing world as a jockey as a teenage and he hasn't stopped yet.' Keith Desormeaux, left, and Kent Desormeaux, right, with parents Harris and Brenda Desormeaux at the family home in Maurice.

(Photo courtesy of Desormeaux family) Where Kent enjoyed immediate success, Keith needed nearly two decades to build his training career to where it is today. He's gradually built his stable into an outfit that routinely punches above its weight class on the competitive West Coast circuit. In addition to Keith's old-school training tactics and shrewd eye for horseflesh, the key to Desormeaux's career surge has been the deep pockets of owner Matt Bryan, a Flower Mound, Texas equipment supplier who entrusted Desormeaux with his Big Chief Racing stable. The connections won the 2013 Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds Race Course with 135-1 shot I've Struck a Nerve and took the 2015 Breeders Cup Juvenile with Texas Red. Injuries derailed both I've Struck a Nerve and Texas Red from the Derby trail but Bryan and Desormeaux remained undeterred.

They bought for $110,000 at the Keeneland September 2014 Yearling Sale and the precocious son of Curlin established himself as a special talent almost immediately. 'As soon as he broke his maiden (at Del Mar Race Track last July), we began dreaming about the Derby,' Keith said. Since then Exaggerator has hit the board in six of seven races, including a breath-taking six-length victory in the Santa Anita Derby last month.

'How often do you see a race where it was over at the quarter pole,' Keith said. 'Kent just had to gear him down before the wire.' The Santa Anita victory earned Keith his first trip to the Kentucky Derby. On Saturday, he and Kent will try to become the first brother trainer-jockey combination to win the Derby. Randy and Gerald Romero ran Dixieland Heat to a 12th-place finish in 1993. Jimmy and Nick Combest's Mr. Moonlight finished seventh in 1964.

'This is an unbelievable situation,' Keith said. 'It's the culmination of a lifetime of hard work. The Derby is so far out there that's almost not a part of your realistic thinking. Avid Pro Tools 9 Windows 8. You hope it happens. To finally be a part of the derby is something that is very gratifying. To have my brother riding my horse is icing on the cake. Honestly I haven't processed it yet.'

A contingent of about 20 Desormeaux friends and family members will attend the Derby on Saturday. Hundreds more will be watching and rooting at home in the village of Maurice. 'The whole little village is buzzing with excitement,' Brenda said.

'Who would have thunk it, that two brothers are in the Derby together? Dreams do come true, you just don't know if it's going to ever become a reality for you.'