First Accused chases first Caulfield win

Tasmanian galloper First Accused is returning to Caulfield in a bid to breakthrough for his maiden win on the Melbourne city course.

First Accused runs in the Ern Jensen Funerals Mile (1600m) on Saturday having run second in two of his three previous attempts at the track.

The Glenn Stevenson -trained galloper was beaten by D’Aguilar at Caulfield over 1400m in May 2022 while at his most recent outing First Accused was first-up when unable to hold off the late charge of Shock ‘Em Ova on May 11.

Stevenson was planning to run First Accused over 1400m at Sandown last week, but a less-than-satisfactory blood picture ended those plans.

“I thought some of them might go up to the Swan Hill Cup, so that’s why we thought we’d look at this race,” Stevenson said.

“That race (Swan Hill) doesn’t really suit us, just because we’ve got to travel.

“We came home after his last run, and his bloods weren’t right last week, so that’s why we didn’t come over (for Sandown) for the 1400-metre race.

“A bit of travel can take it out of them, so the last thing you need is to get over there and then travel to Swan Hill.”

Stevenson said First Accused was a quirky individual and was travelling from his home base on Wednesday night.

First Accused will arrive at the Cranbourne stables of Matthew Brown where he will spend time in a large yard until race day.

“We don’t have boxes at home, so we keep him in a natural big yard, and he can play around all night,” Stevenson said.

“He’s a bit of a quirky horse, so we take him home after each run because he can be a bit of a handful and he does love his beach environment.

“For longevity, we’ll keep him going on the sand and at the end of the day we’re only looking at a couple of runs and maybe turn him out.

“Possibly one after this, all depending on how he is and how he goes.”

Stevenson was not that happy with the condition of the Caulfield surface when First Accused resumed as horses were racing away from the fence.

But with the rail out nine metres and First Accused drawn out in gate nine, Stevenson said the track may suit his galloper on Saturday.

“I wasn’t all that happy with the Caulfield track, but we got through it alright, and we’ve drawn wide again, and if it plays the same, it might be an advantage to be out there,” Stevenson said.

“Second-up at the mile, doesn’t worry me. Hopefully we can get midfield, with cover, and let him finish off.”