How metal thief is moving into first place? (6,3,4)

'how metal thief is' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'moving into first place?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'moving' could be 'taking' (taking is a kind of moving) and 'taking' is located in the answer.
'first' could be 'lead' (lead can mean leading or primary) and 'lead' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'the' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?