Touch of Land takes Million step

Touch of Land may have booked his passage for a second try in the Arlington Million with his victory Wednesday in the Group 3, $90,000 Grand Prix de Vichy at Vichy Racecourse in France.

Trained by Henri-Alex Pantall and ridden by Christophe Lemaire, Touch of Land, a 5-year-old son of Lando, defeated Apsis by two lengths, getting the 1 1/4 miles on good to soft ground in 2:03.80.

Touch of Land, who last year won the Group 2 Prix Dollar, has been aimed by Pantall for the Million, in which he finished 11th two years ago. He would be the third Grand Prix de Vichy to try the Million in the last four years, following Cheshire in 2002 and Vangelis in 2003.