BY around 4.15pm this afternoon, Karl and Elaine Burke's Spigot Lodge could be the most famous stable block in the country.

If Libertarian becomes the first northern horse to win the Derby in 68 years, the small, previously unheralded yard, perched halfway up Penn Hill, between Middleham's Low and High Moors, will be catapulted into the royalty of British flat racing.

The change from two-and-a-half years ago could hardly be more stark. Back then, there wasn't even a single horse in the stables.

If today could turn out to be the greatest day in the Burkes' careers, then a similarly sunny July day in 2009 was undoubtedly the worst.

After a brief disciplinary hearing at the headquarters of the British Horseracing Authority, Karl, a former jumps jockey, was banned from racing for 12 months after admitting passing inside information to Miles Rodgers, a notorious character who had previously been disqualified from the sport.

Being 'banned from racing' doesn't just mean you can't turn up at a racecourse, it means you can't have anything to do with the training of horses, and can't even live within close proximity of a licensed stable.

So while Elaine attempted to pick up the pieces of a training operation that had just celebrated its first Group One success courtesy of Lord Shanakill's victory in France, Karl was forced to move out of the family home, leaving the couple's two daughters, Kelly and Lucy, as they prepared to celebrate their 21st and 18th birthdays.

With their string dropping from more than 60 horses to just 22, Elaine moved to Little Spigot, a smaller yard close by, and relied on the help of her father, southern trainer Alan Jarvis, to keep things going.

It was an extremely difficult period, but for all the challenges, giving up was never considered. So whatever happens on Epsom Downs this afternoon, a first Derby contender is a fitting reward for surviving the dark days.

"It was very tough," said Elaine, who now holds a licence in her own right, but who describes her working relationship with Karl as an 'equal partnership'. "While Karl was banned, he wasn't allowed to be on any property where racehorses were being trained.

"That created all kind of issues - missing the girls' birthdays, not being able to be together as a family, things like that. It was exceptionally difficult, and for what he was supposed to have done, it felt disproportionate."It was a new rule they'd only just brought in, and they expected everybody to know about it. I found myself feeling very bitter about it, and it was soul-destroying to see someone else's name next to all these horses you'd poured so much time, effort and love into.

"But it was my decision to carry on. The owners that we had remained very loyal and they didn't want anybody else to train and be responsible for their horses."We had two young daughters who were really into the horses, and there was their livelihood to consider as well. We also had a mortgage to pay, and you have to have a job and this was all we'd really known."If you suddenly stop doing it, what are you going to do? And once you've stopped, it's incredibly hard to get back from nothing. You can go down to a small amount, but it's still easier to build things back up from that point than to have to start again."

Less than three years on from the start of Karl's ban, and the stable is back to full strength, with 64 horses and three Listed victories to celebrate last season.

That was impressive enough, but thanks to the emergence of Libertarian, whose victory in last month's Dante Stakes ended a 51-year wait for a northern winner of York's prestigious Derby trial, the Burkes stand on the verge of a triumph they could never have believed possible.

When Libertarian won his maiden race at Pontefract in April, he looked an inexperienced youngster with potential. When he could only finish fourth in a muddling race at Sandown next time out, the Derby seemed an impossible dream.

But when he defied odds of 33-1 to land the Dante, seeing off subsequent Irish 2,000 Guineas third Trading Leather and the highly-rated Indian Chief from the yard of Aidan O'Brien, everything changed at a stroke.

"We always thought he looked a nice horse, but I don't think we ever really stopped to think about how good he might be," said Elaine. "He always looked a lovely, stand-up horse, but he was very weak and immature."He was gangly, and needed to put more condition on. Early in the season, he started to fill out, and he showed us a few nice bits of work, especially when we took him away to Southwell and worked him with some milers rated round about 100. He went very well, so we thought then, 'This is a very nice horse - he could be special'."

Yet for all that he stayed on superbly to claim the Dante, Libertarian will still be available at around 16-1 when he enters the stalls at Epsom.

Some seasoned observers have belittled the form of the Dante, claiming this year's race was a far from vintage renewal. Elaine, however, begs to differ.

"If you look at the Oaks trial, which was held on the same day, we were a faster time than the winner of that," she said. "We were the fastest time of the day."Before the race, there were a lot of horses in that race that were being talked up as seriously good Derby hopefuls. If the O'Brien horse had won, no one would have been saying that it wasn't the best of Dantes."It's just because our horse was a 33-1 outsider out of a stable that's not known for having classic hopes, and that's probably a bit embarrassing for some people."

So can either of the Burke's really see Libertarian finishing ahead of odds-on shot Dawn Approach, a facile winner of the 2,000 Guineas, let alone the batallion of five that O'Brien has sent across the Irish Sea?

Karl answers first. "I thought there were huge positives to take out of the Dante," he said. "Everything has to drop right, but he put the weight back on in a couple of days and he is right there."

Elaine has first-hand experience of Epsom, having finished third in the ladies' derby as an amateur on a horse called Mr Bean, and while you can never be certain that a colt will handle the unique undulations and turns of the Derby course, she is quietly confident Liberatarian will give a good account of himself.

"The favourite looks the best horse on paper, but like a few of them, there's a big question about whether he'll stay," she said. "That wouldn't be a problem with our boy because his mother won over two miles and that's injected a bit of stamina into him.

"We can't be sure how he'll handle the course, but that's true of all of them. We've gone the wrong way around the gallops in Middleham and that's a bit like Epsom."It's down the hill and around a bend, and he's handled that well at a canter. You just need a bit of luck on the day. If he's there or thereabouts coming around the home bend, I think he'll have every chance as long as he doesn't get detached."

Back in 1849, The Flying Dutchman won the Derby, having been trained at Spigot Lodge. More than a century-and-a-half later, and Libertarian could write another glorious chapter in the history of one of Middleham's most popular stables.

It would be a success that would transform careers. But having had their lives turned upside down once, you suspect the Burkes would be more than capable of taking things in their stride again.

"It's amazing to think where he could take us," said Elaine. "If he did manage to do it, it would be the first northern winner for an awful lot of years and that would be very special.

"We had that a bit when we won the Dante - but the Derby is obviously a completely different level again. It would be a really big achievement."