Willie Mullins interview: Brian O'Connorgets the views of trainer Willie Mullins on his evergreen star's chances in the Pertemps hurdle today

Better horses than Adamant Approach will appear at Cheltenham today, and none of them will be older. But nobody else's appearance on day three of the festival will be more remarkable. In fact, it's so special that one of those trademark fairytale results that National Hunt racing throws up more often than statistics say should happen might just be on the cards. After all, Adamant Approach's presence alone proves how adept he is at beating the odds.

Quite simply, if he were human, the little bay horse with the broad white face would be watching this afternoon's Pertemps Final from the pensioner reserved area. At 13 he is the oldest horse running at this year's festival, bar the cross-country specialist, Spot Thedifference, and what's even better is that he holds a serious chance of finally breaking his Cheltenham duck.

It is five long years since he arrived at the last under Ruby Walsh in the Supreme Novices Hurdle only to fall with the race seemingly at his mercy. Willie Mullins trained festival winners before then. He has trained more since, and most have been received in the winner's enclosure with a typical display of calm assurance. The Pertemps hardly compares with some of those other top prizes but with his 17-year-old son Patrick riding the old horse today, there might not be a dry eye in the Mullins house if Adamant Approach can notch one up for the teenage team.

Certainly, there seems to be little point expecting the horse to act his age. Adamant Approach might be the oldest swinger at the Cheltenham party but there remains a swing to his step that belies a 53-race career that began with a win at the start of the decade. Ten more victories have been rattled up since, with a remarkable six of them coming in the last 10 months, which only proves the horse is as enthusiastic as ever.

"It's funny because he's not the sort of character I would have thought would have lasted this long. He's quite a hyper little horse really. Bring him out first thing in the morning and he can be quite fresh. He's like a young horse. He shows how well he is. Most experienced horses don't do that. It can be very much like getting on with the day job. But there's certainly no sign of Adamant Approach behaving like that," says Mullins.

As many a politician has found out, hanging around for long enough can often be a sure-fire way to popularity but Adamant Approach seems to have genuinely got under the skin of his connections.

"He is a popular horse around the yard and everyone just marvels at the way he carries on. Patrick for instance thinks the world of him, as do his owners," the trainer reports before returning to the subject of Adamant Approach as serious racehorse rather than stable pet. The horse has more than enough still in him to rule too much cuddly schmaltz.

"He runs well all the time at Cheltenham and this is the sort of trip he is actually bred for. He is bred to stay but the few times we tried him at longer trips as a younger horse he didn't appear to last out. He has confounded us that way, and many other ways," Mullins says. "But I think the change of tactics has helped. We used to wait with him anyway but doing that in an exaggerated way seems to suit him."

It certainly did at Leopardstown in January when a first attempt at three miles yielded a narrow victory under an inspired ride from his young rider. Mullins Snr though is not too surprised at how his senior citizen is still performing at a high level.

"Twenty or 25 years ago, horses racing on until they were 15 or 16 were reasonably common. A horse like Sonny Somers, who was trained by Fred Winter, was winning at 16. He was an extraordinary horse. I think that something like eight jockeys rode their very first winners on him," he argues.

All of which sounds as if there is no retirement plan looming for Adamant Approach, even if he wanted one, which it appears he resolutely doesn't.

"Who knows what we will do with him? But if he keeps showing his form, I'd be happy to race away through the summer again. I'd certainly like to go back to Galway where he won so well last October," Mullins says.

So, even if Adamant Approach pulls off the fairytale today, there doesn't appear to be any sign of him riding off into any sunset - just as he would want it.