Book excerpt: Cajun Racing: From the Bush Tracks to the Triple Crown, longtime turf writer Ed McNamara tells the story of a remarkably resilient people with a passion for racing and an unmatched touch with quarter horses and Thoroughbreds. In Cajun country, there's a lot of character and a lot of characters, as superstar jockey Kent Desormeaux likes to say. You'll meet trainer Pierre LeBlanc, a wheeler-dealer who ran an illegal casino and won one of his best horses, Palomino Joe, in a card game. You'll meet his son Pete LeBlanc, who bought jockey Robby Albarado his first horse and saddle and taught him how to ride. You'll meet other great families of Cajun racing: the Romeros, the Desormeaux, the Borels, the Bernises, the Delahoussayes and the Delhommes.