More than one milestone awaits classy sprinter First Command if he can return a winner in Saturday’s Listed Kensington Stakes at Flemington.
The eight-year-old is striving to win the $120,000 Listed race for the third straight year and has been a firmer in early betting, tightening from an opening quote of $11 with TAB fixed odds on Wednesday to $6 on Friday.
First Command winning the Mal Seccull Handicap at Caulfield - photo by Race Horse Photos Australia (Steven Dowden)
And a first-up victory in the 1000m straight-track sprint would also push the gelding past $1 million in career earnings.
“That is obviously the plan this preparation,” trainer Anthony Freedman said of reaching $1 million prizemoney.
“If he can do that – if it’s not tomorrow then hopefully it’s within a run or two – I know that would mean a lot to the owners.”
First Command has been favourite for the Kensington Stakes in the past two years and Freedman believes the sprinter is in similar order to what he was in 12 months ago.
The son of Commands hasn’t raced since his unplaced Lightning Stakes effort last February.
Freedman said the sprinter came in for a spring preparation but they were not happy with him and decided to send him back to the paddock.
“This race was the obvious way to go once he came back in,” Freedman said.
First Command has the task of lumping 60kg and will be giving away 6kg to almost all of his rivals except General Truce (59kg) and Loveyamadly (55.5kg).
But the sprinter has proven he can carry weight and Freedman believes the gelding is in the right shape to test his rivals.
“I think he’s about where he was this time last year,” the trainer said.
“He’s well-placed. He’s got to give away a bit of weight to some of these horses that are on their way up but he’s very effective up the straight so he’s going to be right in the mix.”
In-form up-and-comer Kaiser Sun is favourite at $2.90 ahead of Pocket Rockets and Don’t Get Excited at $5.50.
First Command’s previous Kensington Stakes wins came second-up but Freedman said timing, and the fact First Command would get too much weight in non-black type races, was the reason for him going in first-up this time.
“He is good first-up and he’s done quite a bit of work,” Freedman said.
A winner of 12 of his 33 starts and $951,490 prizemoney, First Command started racing as a two-year-old and is one of the stable favourites in the Freedman team.
“He’s been around a while and hopefully he can keep doing it for a bit longer,” Freedman said.
