When the news was announced on Friday that Madefromlucky would not be running in the Kentucky Derby, it did not send a shock wave rippling across the horse racing industry.

In essence, the chain of events was that one 30-1 shot exited the field in favor of Donegal Racing's Keen Ice, who also figures to be 30-1 or more in an outstanding field of the year's best 3-year-olds.

Yet in more than a dozen places across the country, when word that there was a spot in the Run for the Roses awaiting Keen Ice reached the eyes and ears of the horse's owners, it generated an ecstatic response usually reserved for a World Series or Super Bowl championship.

One of those locations was New York, where attorney John Buckley Jr. was spending the day with his son.

"I saw the email about Keen Ice and I high-fived my son," Buckley said. "It was just an amazing feeling."

What was once a seemingly impossible dream will become reality for Buckley and his longtime friend Ralph Durante on Saturday. As members of the Donegal partnership, they will be part of a crowd of 150,000 or so at Churchill Downs watching the famed $2 million Run for the Roses from a completely new perspective -- as owners of one of the horses in the race.

"How many guys own horses and never get to the Derby?" Durante asked. "There's only 20 horses a year that make it and for guys like John and I to finally own a piece of a horse like Keen Ice, it's incredible."

Making the weekend even more special, Buckley and Durante also own a share of Donegal's 3-year-old filly Puca, who will be running in the $1 million Kentucky Oaks on Friday at Churchill Downs as well as a Team Valor International 3-year-old running in a $250,000 stakes on Saturday's Derby undercard.

All because they caught Derby Fever a year ago.

For the last 17 years, the two North Haven, Connecticut, neighbors have owned a small string of claiming horses under the banner of their Durante-Buckley Stable. They've enjoyed a good measure of success, occasionally winding up with a stakes runner, but a Kentucky Derby starter? You simply do not find first Saturday in May material in $25,000 claiming races.

"The way we approached our claiming operation, it wasn't designed to get us to the Derby," Durante said.

Then, thanks to one of their friends, Buckley and Durante saw horse racing in a different light - one with a rose-colored tint.

For years, Buckley had been friendly with fellow Connecticut resident and racing fan, George Waldron, who often talked about wanting to become an owner. When Waldron finally jumped into the game, he bought a share of a West Point Thorougbreds partnership, and his first horse turned out to be Commanding Curve, who ran second in last year's Kentucky Derby at 37-1 odds.

"We watched George's ride with Commanding Curve up close and personal and that was great," Buckley said. "It was an unbelievable story - to get involved with your first horse and run second in the Derby. That, plus the fact that we're getting older, helped convince Ralph and I to look into a partnership. It's a great way to get involved at the highest level of the game."

The partners started shopping around and purchased a share of a 2-year-old European runner named Indianaughty through Team Valor International. Indianaughty won in his U.S. debut at Gulfsteam, then was unplaced in the El Camino Real Derby and the Florida Derby. He's also scheduled to run on Derby Day at Churchill Downs in the $250,000 American Turf.

They continued to sift through partnership offerings and Buckley's eye was caught by a package from Jerry Crawford's Donegal Racing consisting of nine horses that included a son of Curlin who would be named Keen Ice.

"I like what Donegal does," Buckley said. "There are partnerships with more horses who haven't accomplished as much as them the last few years."

According to Durante, he and Buckley put up around $40,000 to join about 15 other owners in Donegal's Derby Dreams VI package that included Keen Ice, Puca and Rock Shandy, who was second in the Grade 3 Sham and third in the Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis earlier this year.

Keen Ice has won only one of his seven career starts, but that came last year in a maiden race at no less of a locale than Churchill Downs. He closed out his 2-year-old season on a promising note with a third-place finish in the Grade 2 Remsen.

The strapping colt was fifth in the Holy Bull to kick off 2015 then showed a strong late kick in finishing third behind International Star in the Grade 2 Risen Star at Fair Grounds. A fourth-place finish in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby followed, leaving Keen Ice in limbo. He had only 22 points in the Road to the Kentucky Derby series that determines the 20 starters in the opening leg of the Triple Crown and stood in the 22nd spot once all the preps were concluded.

When One Lucky Dane, who was 16th with 40 points, dropped out due to an injury, Keen Ice moved up to the No. 21 spot. When trainer Todd Pletcher removed Madefromlucky, who was 20th with 30 points, from Derby consideration, it was time for Durante, Buckley and the rest of the Donegal partners to celebrate.

"We were pretty confident we'd get in the Derby so John and I bought some box seats for the Derby and Oaks a few weeks ago," said Durante, who runs Edge Technology Services, a software company, as well as End-Game Strategy, which deals with health care overpayments, and Providence Speciality Products, a cheese company in Rhode Island. "But when I finally got the official word that we were in, it was so exciting to hear we would be in the big dance."

With just a single win to his credit while facing such a highly accomplished field, Keen Ice figures to be overlooked in the wagering on Derby Day. Yet, in a race loaded with top contenders who possess sharp early speed, Keen Ice's late kick could make him a threat in the fateful final furlong -- much like Commanding Curve was a year ago.

"There are a lot of horses who, from a pedigree standpoint, don't want to get a mile and a quarter," Buckley said. "But people have always said the more distance, the better for Keen Ice. I think he's going to be closing at the end and relish and the mile and a quarter."

Of course, if the Derby doesn't work out, there's always the Kentucky Oaks and Puca, who was second earlier this month in the Grade 2 Gazelle and sixth in last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, or Indianaughty in a quarter of a million dollar race.

For two guys who spent the better part of the last two decades playing the claiming game, there's no way they can lose, regardless of what happens on the racetrack.

"I've never been to the Derby and to go this year and be involved in races like this, it's a once in a lifetime event," Durante said. "It's a bucket list thing."

And it's also cause enough for a high-five or two, regardless of what the odds say.