Less than a year ago, jockey Sam Thomas was flavour of the month, so to speak. He took the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Denman, and was seen, in some quarters, as really going places within the sport.

However, all of that has altered dramatically, and yesterday the young Englishman suffered the ignominy of being replaced on Master Minded by Tony McCoy when the champion chaser goes to post for the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown on Saturday.

Clive Smith, who owns the animal, claims the decision to use McCoy is the best decision for all parties. Thomas is currently No.1 rider for trainer Paul Nicholls, with stable jockey Ruby Walsh sidelined through injury.

Thomas has been criticised by many after the high-profile defeats of Kauto Star, in the Betfair Chase, and Big Buck's, in the Hennessy Gold Cup, both of whom the rider fell off at the final fence. Thomas suffered another bad day on Monday, when his two mounts at Folkestone both failed to complete, and Smith believes it is important he regains his confidence before returning to ride at the highest level.

"Tony McCoy will ride Master Minded at the weekend and, obviously, it was a tough decision, but I think it is the right one," said the owner. "I think it is right for Sam as we need to get him right and he is obviously having a bad time at the moment. He will get his confidence back.

"We are also doing the right thing by the horse as he is a young horse with great talent and it is just the sensible thing to do. We had a great day with Sam when he rode Kauto to win the Betfair Chase last season and that was a great ride.

"Tony has ridden for me, including when he rode Royal Auclair to win the Cathcart at Cheltenham and on Free World last month."

Elsewhere in the Tingle Creek, it seems unlikely that Nicky Henderson will let Jack The Giant take his chance due to the soft conditions at the Esher venue. The six-year-old has won five of his seven starts over fences and made a hugely impressive return to action at Ascot a couple of weeks ago.

Henderson is looking to step his gelding up in grade but may elect to wait for the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day rather than let him take on the likes over Master Minded at the weekend.

"The main thing with Jack The Giant is that he has to have good ground so we are keeping a very close eye on the weather," said the trainer. "I would have to say that it looks unlikely at this stage as there is no great rush with him and the ground is important.

"We would seriously be thinking about the King George for him, and I'm not confident he'll get the three miles but if you don't run you'll never find out. We have always thought two and a half would be comfortable for him, and if we're thinking of the Ryanair Chase for him, we must try and find out about the trip.

"I also think the chances of getting good ground at Kempton are more possible than Sandown. If it did come up good ground at the weekend, it would be possible he would run, but it looks unlikely."

The German gelding, Fiepes Shuffle, will return to Sandown for the race. After rather outgrowing his domestic opposition, trainer Christian Von De Recke has taken the eight-year-old to Esher and he produced a thrilling display from the front in the Celebration Chase last April before a mistake at the third-last had him finish third to Andreas.

He will have more on his plate against Master Minded and Tidal Bay, but Von De Recke is not deterred from coming over from his base near Cologne.

"He's in very good form," said the trainer. "He won at Baden-Baden recently on his comeback and the plan has been to aim for the big English and French races.

"He's the fastest two-miler I have ever trained. We are hopeful of picking up some nice prize money."