LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Joey Platts always said he wasn't going to attend the Kentucky Derby until he had a horse in the race.

It took him 18 years, but Platts finally made it from small-town Wyoming to Churchill Downs as the owner of a gray colt named Lusty Latin.

"I'm ready for Saturday," he said. "I probably won't even be able to stand still."

It's the first Derby for Platts, trainer Jeff Mullins and jockey Glenn Corbett.

"We've all been a team getting here," said Wendy Platts, Joey's wife of 18 years and the co-owner of Lusty Latin.

The colt, 30-1 on the morning line, is carrying the hopes of Lyman, Wyo. -- better known for rodeo than thoroughbred racing.

Before the Platts left, friends and neighbors in the town of 2,000 dropped off envelopes stuffed with $100 in cash to bet on Lusty Latin. Two close friends tossed in $1,000.

"Every sheepherder in Wyoming has probably sent some money," Mullins said.

Reluctant to carry extra cash to Kentucky, Joey turned the money over to a friend to place the bets at an off-track facility.

"They are so supportive," Wendy said. "We've gotten calls from everybody. Joey's college rodeo coach called the other day."

The couple keeps rodeo horses on its 30-acre spread in Lyman, near the Utah border in southwestern Wyoming.

Wendy, Miss Rodeo Wyoming in 1981, and 15-year-old daughter Rylea ride in rodeo barrel races. Joey sports a silver belt buckle earned in a team roping competition.

The Platts claimed Lusty Latin for $62,500 after he finished second by a nose in a race at Hollywood Park in November. Joey wanted a tax writeoff for his heavy construction business.

"There was some extra money in the company and we just were wondering what to do with it," Wendy said.

On Feb. 2, Lusty Latin ran third in the Turf Paradise Derby. Corbett noticed the colt didn't feel quite right. An examination showed one of his testicles was lodged in his flank.

Surgeons removed the testicle, and Lusty Latin missed three days of training.

"Now he plays in his stall and whinnies," Joey said. "Before he wouldn't do none of that."

Before the Santa Anita Derby on April 6, Joey plunked down a late nomination fee of $6,000 for the Kentucky Derby. He wanted to be ready, in case Lusty Latin had a good showing.

The colt earned a trip to Churchill Downs by finishing third behind Came Home and Easy Grades, two of the 20 contenders for Saturday's Derby.

Within 15 minutes, Joey fielded the first of 15 offers for the colt. Among those interested was trainer Bob Baffert.

The best offer was $1.5 million -- big bucks for the Platts' one-horse stable. Joey considered selling 49.9 percent, but realized he didn't want a co-owner who would urge him to drop Corbett for a high-profile name.

"They all asked why and I said, 'You reach in there and pull his heart out, throw it on the ground and stomp on it, and tell him we're pulling you off,"' he said. "I wanted him to have the experience with us."

Corbett is a 17-year veteran who currently rides at Prairie Meadows in Altoona, Iowa.

"You really don't see that loyalty," he said. "If it was anyone else in the owner and trainer role, I wouldn't be getting this opportunity."

No matter how Lusty Latin does Saturday, Joey still has no plans to sell.

"He might be worth $10 when the Derby's over, he might be worth $10 million," he said. "We'll gamble and see where we get."