 He was sent into training with Daniel J. Vella at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.After Touch Gold won a 6-furlong maiden race, his best 1996 stakes results were a third in the Grey Stakes and a second in the Swynford Stakes.Sent to race in the United States under new trainer David Hofmans, Touch Gold won a 6-furlong allowance race at Santa Anita Park, then at Keeneland Race Course won April's Lexington Stakes, in which he defeated top three-year-old Smoke Glacken by 8½ lengths.