?Based on John Silvertand?s cancer diagnosis, he should have died two years ago.

But the man who bred Afleet Alex has something to live for ? Saturday?s Kentucky Derby.?

So read the introduction to an intriguing story in this week?s Palm Beach Post ? perhaps even more intriguing to readers here than in Florida.

A resident of Bermuda for many years, Silvertand is fondly remembered by those who played alongside him on the hockey field.

But nothing he achieved in that sport ? even as instigator of the once highly popular Bermuda Hockey Festival ? can compare with his success on the race track.

The former sales manager at Burrows Lightbourn left the Island several years ago to breed horses in Florida.

Now, as he continues to battle cancer, a disease which doctors said should have taken his life two years ago, he stands on the verge of his greatest triumph.

His horse, Afleet Alex, romped home first in the recent Arkansas Derby in a time even faster than when the brilliant Smarty Jones won that race, and now goes into this Saturday?s Derby as one of the favourites.

Silvertand says it was he who kept the horse alive when, just 24 hours after it was born, his mother wanted nothing to do with him. Now it?s Afleet Alex who?s doing the same for his breeder.

And when the 131st Derby gets underway on Saturday, 60-year-old Silvertand will be there with wife Carolyn and 12-year-old daughter Lauren, hoping to celebrate the greatest day of his life.

Now living in Lake Worth, Silvertand suffers from Stage Four cancer. When doctors told him he had three months to live, he decided that was ?absolute rubbish? and went right on living ? two and a half years and counting.

?The horse has kept me going,? he told the Post.

?You have to decide you?re going to beat cancer. Otherwise, it?s going to beat you. A lot of people just sit there and give up and then sit on the beach and get their affairs in order and then die. I wasn?t prepared to do that, especially as I have a 12-year-old daughter now.?

Ironically, while Afleet Alex is among Saturday?s favourites, Silvertand won?t receive a cent to offset his mounting medical costs.

Before his diagnosis, he lost a coin flip with partner John Devers to decide who got first dibs on their five foals that year. Devers took Afleet Alex, who Silvertand figures is now worth $10 million.

?So for the toss of a coin, here I am,? Silvertand continued. ?It was a quarter, right out of my pocket. I probably kicked it into a corner somewhere.?

While Silvertand is neither Afleet Alex?s owner nor trainer, he remains his breeder of record because he owned Alex?s mother.

But the horse?s owners have embraced Silvertand like one of their own, inviting him, his wife and daughter to share everyone?s first Derby Day in the owners? box.

?So the money doesn?t flow my way,? Silvertand said. ?But the excitement is there. Just to be connected, to have your name in the paper, is my 15 minutes of fame.

?It?s going to be thrilling. Tears, I imagine. With the condition I?m in, it?s hard not to be emotional. I think it?s good to show emotion. Big men cry. It?s OK.?

These days breeding is Silvertand?s passion.

But those who remember him from his days in Bermuda will tell you he was a man of many talents.

Before joining Burrows Lightbourn, he flew in the Royal Air Force and in 1978 was the pilot for rock group Fleetwood Mac during the band?s US tour.

?If you plan something to look forward to . . . it is a great help in the recovery process because it obviously gets the blood flowing and gets all the good nerve endings working properly,? continued Silvertand, who, regardless of this Saturday?s result, hopes to see his horse compete in the other American classics, the Preakness and the Belmont.