Louisville, Ky. ? Afleet Alex is running for more than glory in the Kentucky Derby. The big bay colt is running to beat cancer, too.

When the starting gate springs open Saturday for the Derby, Afleet Alex will be among the favorites. But he’s already a champion off the racetrack. And if he wins, there can be no sweeter story.

Looking for the next Funny Cide or Smarty Jones feel-good story? You’re on the right track with Afleet Alex:

• The breeder has terminal cancer, but says the horse is helping him survive.
• The Philly-area owners are donating part of Afleet Alex’s earnings to Alex’s Lemonade Stand, a children’s cancer charity.
• The horse was hand fed with a beer bottle full of milk at birth, overcame a lung infection two months ago and then won the Arkansas Derby to regain his stature as a top Derby contender with six victories in nine races.
• The trainer picked out Afleet Alex at a 2-year-old sale in Maryland for new owners at the bargain price of $75,000.
• The jockey was fired in favor of a more experienced rider, but will be back for his first Derby.


Afleet Alex, with jockey Jeremy Rose up, rounds the third turn at Churchill Downs during a morning workout. Afleet Alex, shown Tuesday in Louisville, Ky., is one of the favorites to win the race Saturday and a favorite among fans as the latest feel-good story of the Kentucky Derby.

“Just an amazing story, isn’t it?” trainer Tim Ritchey said outside his barn at Churchill Downs. “We’re just so fortunate to have a horse like this. Everything is just falling into place, plus we have an opportunity to help some that are less fortunate.”

John Silvertand, the 60-year-old breeder who lives in Lake Worth, Fla., said doctors gave him about three months to live because of colon cancer that had spread to his lungs and liver. It’s been 21/2 years and counting.

“The horse keeps me going,” Silvertand said in a telephone interview. “I truly believe he’s helping me in my battle.”

Silvertand, a former pilot in Britain’s Royal Air Force, plans to drive to the Derby with his wife, Carolyn, and 12-year-old daughter, Lauren. “Have to drive,” he said. “Too many Afleet Alex hats to take on the plane.”

The hats are just part of the Afleet Alex merchandise also being sold to raise money for Alex’s Lemonade Stand for Pediatric Cancer Research. Each hat has a small lemon image on the side, and Afleet Alex’s saddlecloth also will have a lemon image.

Alexandra Scott, the daughter of Jay and Liz Scott of Wynnewood, Pa., was diagnosed with cancer two days before her first birthday, in 1997. She opened the lemonade stand when she was 4, hoping to raise $1 million for her hospital.

The touching story quickly gained national interest, and donations started pouring in. Alexandra was 8 when she died Aug. 1. Chuck Zacney, managing partner of Cash Is King Stable, owners of Afleet Alex, was so moved by the story that he pledged $30,000 to the charity. Then he e-mailed the Scotts, asking if they’d like to be part of the team, with a portion of Afleet Alex’s earnings going to the cancer charity.

Zacney and his four co-owners arrived at Afleet Alex’s barn Tuesday, full of stories about how lucky they’ve been with the first horse they bought together.

“You can’t dream this,” the 43-year-old Zacney said. “All the owners, we all have a pretty positive spin on life, and we want to share this with everyone. Doing all this, and with the lemonade stand and with John being part of it, is just great.”

Afleet Alex, meanwhile, is coming into the race in fine form. He has won six of nine races, with two runner-up finishes, for earnings of $1,315,800. He worked a half-mile Tuesday morning in his final tuneup before the Derby.

Afleet Alex won the Arkansas Derby by a record eight lengths April 16, less than a month after finishing sixth in the Rebel Stakes. After the race, Ritchey said Afleet Alex had a lung infection.

This was the same horse that went several days without his mother’s milk after his birth in Florida in May 2002. With his mother unable to nurse her foal, Silvertand’s daughter fed the horse out of a Coors Light bottle with a nipple on top. A few days later, a nurse mare arrived, and Afleet Alex was on his way to the races.

Two years ago, high school pals from upstate New York watched their gelding Funny Cide win the Kentucky Derby. Last year, it was Smarty Jones, who nearly died in a starting gate mishap, winning the Derby and becoming the “people’s horse.”

Is Afleet Alex next?

“He may be,” Ritchey said. “He’s going to have to prove himself, but he’s a horse that had to overcome things. America seems to like a sports star that overcomes adversity and goes on and becomes successful.”