Formerly trained in France by Guillaume Macaire, for whom he won three times over hurdles and fences, Master Minded was bought by Clive Smith and transferred to Paul Nicholls in Ditcheat, Somerset in November, 2007. He made an inauspicious start to his British chasing career, blundering and unseating jockey Sam Thomas at the third fence on his debut at Exeter the following month.
Neverthless, having won his next two starts under Ruby Walsh, including the Grade 2 Game Spirit Chase at Newbury, Master Minded headed to Prestbury Park for his first appearance at the Cheltenham Festival. Sent off 3/1 favourite for the Queen Mother Champion Chase, he readily went clear in the closing stages for an impressive, 19-length victory over Voy Por Ustedes.
By the time the 2009 Cheltenham Festival rolled around, Master Minded had established himself as the dominant force in the two-mile chasing division, adding the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown and the Victor Chandler Chase at Ascot to his winning tally with a minimum of fuss. Sent off at a prohibitive 4/11, he had little difficulty is winning the Queen Mother Champion Chase for the second year running, comfortably beating Well Chief by 7 lengths.
Master Minded was actually sent off favourite for the Queen Mother Champion Chase in 2010 and 2011, but failed to show quite the same sparkle as in previous years, finishing fourth and eighth, respectively. On his retirement from racing, in December, 2011, he had won 16 of his 28 races and over £1.16 million in prize money.
