BEING the breeder of the favourite for tomorrow's Belmont Stakes has enabled former Bermuda resident John Silvertand to do some of his old island friends a favour ? getting them seats in the owners' box.

Southampton residents Gavin and Linda Wilson and their eight-year-old daughter Jessie will be cheering on Mr. Silvertand's horse Afleet Alex as they watch from some of the most sought-after vantage points at Belmont Park. Fellow Bermudians Shaun Davis and his wife Sharon will also be among the crowd.

For Silvertand, who is suffering from cancer, it will be an emotional occasion. It is now more than two-and-a-half years since doctors told the former sales manager of Burrows Lightbourn that he had three months to live.

He credits his continuing survival to the success and the spirit of Afleet Alex. The plucky horse followed his third place in the Kentucky Derby by winning the Preakness Stakes three weeks ago, despite having nearly fallen. Tomorrow, he will be vying to win a second title of this year's Triple Crown of US thoroughbred racing.

And in medical tests carried out since the remarkable Preakness success, Silvertand has received some unexpected and encouraging news.

"My cancer tumours have stopped increasing in size," he told the . "I'm really pleased about that. The longer the horse keeps going, the longer I'll keep going."

Silvertand said he would be delighted to have his Bermuda friends present on such a huge occasion. And after all the excitement of the Triple Crown has died down, he intends to pay a visit to the island where he lived for several years.

"This will be the first time that I've had people over from Bermuda for a classic and in the owners' box," he said. "It should be a lot of fun. I had a lovely time in Bermuda and both my daughters are Bermudian. I'm hoping to go back this summer to stay with Gavin and Linda, hopefully for Cup Match."

Gavin Wilson was excited about the trip. "This will be a first for me, to see a big race from the owners' box," he said. "My daughter (Jessie) just wants to know if she'll be able to pat the horse. It will just be exciting to be there, whether the horse wins or not.

"John and I go back to the 60s, when he used to fly in here for the RAF on C-130 transport planes. I ended up being best man at his wedding and he was best man at mine."

During the Preakness, Afleet Alex performed something of a miracle. As he was gathering momentum and preparing to romp for home, he was suddenly cut off and clipped heels with Scrappy T. Silvertand's horse was forced almost to his knees, but incredibly, with his jockey Jeremy Rose clinging onto his mane, he managed to regain his footing and cruise home to victory.

"It was a real Bermuda day, sunny and about 72 degrees, and I was about 40 yards from it all," Silvertand recalled. "Then to see the horse virtually fall down after being clipped, it was remarkable that he got up again.

"An equine professor at the University of Florida told me that for an 1,100-pound horse going at that speed and carrying 126 pounds, it can't get up from that position. It's impossible. Alex's angels must have pulled him up."

As with his breeder, beating the odds is nothing new for Afleet Alex. The three-year-old's life was in the balance for the first 24 hours after its birth. But Silvertand's daughter Lauren, now aged 12, nursed the foal back to health, using a Coors beer bottle with a nipple attached.

Silvertand has not benefited financially from the horse's success. That is because he lost out on the toss of coin with partner John Devers to decide who got first choice on each of the five foals born that year. Devers chose Afleet Alex, who is now estimated to be worth around $10 million. Silvertand fancied his chances of winning the $1-million race on the Belmont Park circuit at Elmont, New York, but he admitted there were some factors of uncertainty.

"He's the favourite and he's the horse to beat," Silvertand said. "But Afleet Alex has had a lot of races in a short time and that could be very important. I don't think he knows he's a horse, he thinks he's a human.

"He gets on very well with his rider as well. But it's one-and-a-half miles and none of these three-year-olds have gone that distance. At Belmont, it's a very tactical race, as we were saw last year when Smarty Jones got beaten."