The first stretcher to follow (5)
I believe the answer is:
track
'to follow' is the definition.
(I know this)
'the first stretcher' is the wordplay.
'the first' becomes 't' (1st letter of 'the').
'stretcher' becomes 'rack' (I've seen this in other clues).
't'+'rack'='TRACK'
(Other definitions for track that I've seen before include "recording" , "A prepared course for racing on" , "Part of record" , "Trace; path" , "Foorprint or trail" .)