Racing: Mullins polishes Pearl of Ireland

King George VI Chase: History beckons a nation's hero as he hopes for a Boxing Day rerun

In terms of the famous who once lived there, Leighlinbridge, on the banks of the River Barrow, struggles a bit. Captain Myles Keogh, second in command to Custer at the battle of the Little Big Horn. Cardinal Patrick Moran, archbishop of Sydney at the start of the last century. The forebears of a former Canadian prime minister, Brian Mulroney.

The grey-stone village, just off the main road from Dublin to Waterford, is unmistakably Irish, from its ruined 13th- century Carmelite friary and attendant Cromwell-devastated castle to its present gem, the Lord Bagenal Inn, a watering hole of high renown. It is also horse country through and through, and those who write the tourist brochures would do better to concentrate on the equine celebrities than the Z-list humans. From the folded hills above the river valley have emerged some emerald jumping legends.

Dawn Run and Danoli are but two, and now Florida Pearl must be added. When the white-blazed bright bay beat the heir apparent Best Mate fair and square in the King George VI Chase a year ago on Thursday, the celebrations in the Lord Bagenal went on for a reputed 48 hours.

This is not just horse country, it is Mullins country. The family's empire straddles the Co Carlow and Co Kilkenny border; the patriarch, Paddy, who so famously handled Dawn Run to become the only horse to win both the Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup, and his oldest son, William, are the ones to have made a serious mark in the training business.

Mullins fils, 46, Ireland's champion for two of the past three seasons, operates out of Closutton, a mile or so out of Leighlinbridge on the rising ground to the west. Florida Pearl, owned by Archie O'Leary and his wife, Violet, has ruled there virtually since the day he arrived six years ago as a four-year-old. Then, the gelding was a raw, raking frame of a horse; now, he has acquired the mature good looks commensurate with his status as arguably the best chaser in the world. Mullins is pleased to show his horse of a lifetime off; it was instant love and nothing has changed.

"When I first saw him he took the sight out of my eye," he recalled. "He's 17 hands now, and he was the same height at four. It's unusual for a horse his size and build to have stayed so sound. But he has tremendous conformation and bone to him. Huge feet, great depth through the girth and a huge nostril, which are things I always like to see in a horse."

The big horse's superior bodywork and aerobic qualities have taken him to 14 victories, including nine at Grade One level, and 11 places. The King George on Boxing Day will be his 28th race, which is not a huge tally for a horse his age, but then his low mileage is one of the prime reasons that he is still in the highest flight approaching his 11th birthday. "I'd like to think he's lasted so well because I haven't taken him to every cockfight in the country," said Mullins. "I'll consider myself lucky if I train another one like him, and his whole career has been geared towards keeping him going."

Remarkably, Florida Pearl and his near-100 stablemates do all their exercise on a frying pan of a wood-chip circle, just two-and-a-half furlongs round. After work they spend as much time as possible out of their boxes, on automated horsewalkers or turned out in paddocks. With space and staff at a premium the system is the child of necessity but it works, and relaxed athletes abound at Closutton.

The physical challenge of conditioning a horse is one thing, the mental quite another. As time goes by motivation can be a problem, but in the past year Florida Pearl has been revitalised by the change of tactics that has kept him up with the cut-and-thrust of a race and interested rather than being protected out the back like a delicate flower. And the theory that a change of jockey does no harm must have credence, given that the six who have won on him did so on first acquaintance. Thursday's pilot, Ruby Walsh, is not among them, but the last time he tried was when the pair were second in the Christmas showpiece two years ago, and the time lapse may be enough to persuade the old horse that there is a fresh pair of hands on the reins.

Florida Pearl's rematch with Best Mate in the three-mile, no-quarter race that is a much better guide to the identity of chasing's champion than the Gold Cup has been eagerly awaited, but his road to Kempton has not been straightforward. An unnecessarily hard race on his seasonal debut at Down Royal and then, with resistance lowered, a viral attack have meant that Mullins has faced a balancing act to produce his gladiator fit for the festive arena.

"You never really know how an experience like last month's will affect them, but I should imagine that a horse of this one's age and experience should be able to forget it," he said. "But it was not ideal. He has worked well this week, though, and seems to be back to his old form."

Florida Pearl will be accompanied to Kempton by his stablemates Davenport Milenium, who puts his Champion Hurdle credentials on the line in the Christmas Hurdle, and One Night Out, who tackles the best novices in the Feltham Chase. There is a £100,000 bonus for any trainer who can win all three of the Grade One races at the meeting, and should Florida Pearl take the big one again that should just about settle the drinks bill in the Lord Bagenal.