Seven-year-old Set Piece began his career overseas and made all seven of his European starts at one mile. His 12 wins before Saturday came in races over one mile or 1 1/16 miles. Set Piece had run 1 1/8 miles three times, finishing fourth twice, second once. But on Saturday at Colonial Downs, which hosted its first Arlington Million, Set Piece made his first start going 1 1/4 miles, was last of 11 with a quarter-mile to run, and rallied furiously on the far outside under Florent Geroux to win by two lengths.   Not only did Set Piece outrun his apparent distance limitations, he won his first Grade 1 while making his 29th start.   “We’ve been training him four years for this,” trainer Brad Cox quipped, asked why he and owner-breeder Juddmonte Farms decided even to try the Million. “All these years of preparation. He had a five-year base under him.”  :: Bet with the Best! Get Free DRF PPs and Cashback when you wager. Join DRF Bets. In truth, Set Piece wound up at Colonial for lack of better options and at the suggestion of Garrett O’Rourke, Juddmonte’s American manager, and with the blessing of the family of Prince Khalid Al Abdullah, Juddmonte’s late principal. Cox doesn’t believe the inner turf course at Saratoga, where the Fourstardave was run Saturday, truly suits his horse, and as a horse bred in Great Britain, Set Piece isn’t eligible for the portion of purses at Ellis Park and Kentucky available only to Kentucky-breds.  “We had a great setup today,” jockey Florent Geroux said. “I just didn’t know about the distance, but it looks like he was fine with it.”  The setup was great for a late runner. No fractional times were posted on live video of the race, but they appear in the official chart as 22.96, 46.67, and 1:10.12, a taxing tempo for a 1 1/4-mile contest. Last into the far turn was the right place to be.   Colonial hosted the Million for the first time after the race was run over 1 1/8 miles last summer at Churchill, where the course can’t accommodate 1 1/4-mile turf races. The Million and its supporting stakes, the Beverly D. and the Secretariat, wound up at Churchill after Churchill Downs Incorporated closed the track where they had originated, Arlington Park.  This Million appeared to have two major pace players, but Strong Quality outran Atone in the early stages and set the tempo. Santin, who won the nine-furlong Million last year at Churchill, got over from an outside post to track the leader, Atone, Master Piece, and a wide Catnip stalking the pace. Nothing much had changed at the half-mile pole, though Never Explain was beginning a wide move, but at the three-eighths, Adhamo, the Chad Brown-trained 4-1 favorite making his first start since October, began a marauding run on the far outside. Geroux gave Set Piece his cue and the gelding kicked into gear, following Adhamo as the pair passed horses and moved toward contention. Adhamo came very wide at the quarter pole, but Set Piece was wider still and clearly moving best with a furlong to run. With a final quarter-mile in 23.13, he whizzed past the tiring speed and onto a decisive victory. Final time for the 10 furlongs over firm going was a course-record 1:58.19, and Set Piece paid $13.40.  Set Piece was given a 100 Beyer Speed Figure. Santin rebounded from some subpar performances with a fine second, holding off Adhamo by a half-length. All the other horses anywhere near the lead at the half-mile pole but him struggled home, and Santin got his final quarter in a solid 23.43.  Set Piece, who has no stud career in front of him as a gelding, is by Dansili out of Portodora, out of Kingmambo. Now that he has run the race of his life over 1 1/4 miles, thought could be given to turning the gelding back to a mile in the Breeders’ Cup. That’s a discussion, Cox said, to have with Prince Khalid’s family in coming weeks. Saturday was a time to relish an aging homebred doing a couple things he’d never done before.  :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.