Indian War Cry could get loose on lead

Handicappers will have to choose between two horses heading in different directions in a $20,000 claiming race for 3-year-olds that serves as Friday’s feature at Northlands Park. It is a tough choice: Indian War Cry is moving up significantly following an impressive win, while Abeel will be running in a straight claiming race for the first time this year. They look like the main players in the 6 1/2-furlong sprint, which drew six horses.

Trained by Greg Tracy, Indian War Cry is coming off a 12 3/4-length romp in a $7,000 claiming race for 3-year-old non-winners of two on May 24. With Rico Walcott aboard, Indian War Cry broke on top and never looked back as he increased his margin at every call in the six-furlong race.

His best finish in three starts as a juvenile at Hastings last year was a third in a maiden special weight race going 3 1/2 furlongs. He has apparently taken a shine to the surface and competition at Northlands, easily winning a $7,000 maiden-claiming race in his only other start in Edmonton on May 9.

Indian War Cry drew the outside post and could be gone if he breaks alertly with Walcott retaining the mount.

It is a significant jump for Indian War Cry, but according to DRF Formulator, Tracy has a 26 percent strike rate over the past five years with horses moving up in price by 50 percent or more.

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Abeel also began his career at Hastings, where he won a $10,000 maiden-claiming race going 3 1/2 furlongs in his third race. In his first start at Northlands on May 3, he finished a distant second, 13 lengths behind Gross Misconduct, in a first-level allowance race going six furlongs.

The Monica Russell trainee came back to score a front-running win over Lintlaw in a similar race but couldn’t keep up when he ran in a $30,000 optional-claiming sprint June 7. He did finish fourth, however, and the horse who finished second, Legend Fortynine, came back to win the $55,940 Ky Alta last Saturday.

Abeel has good speed, and if a duel develops, the race could set up for Western Heritage, who also is trained by Tracy.

◗ Through the first 17 days of racing, the total live mutual handle of $4,282,019 at Northlands is up by 22 percent from last year, when $3,514,708 was wagered on the same number of race days, 17, and the same number of races, 139. Most of the increase is attributed to a 32 increase in offtrack wagering. The ontrack live handle is up 4 percent.