Australia: Skilled Artist has favorable post in Tuesday handicap

Skilled Artist, who starts in a handicap at 7 3/4 furlongs at Murwillumbah Racecourse on Tuesday, is not the most trustworthy mare racing in the Australian state of New South Wales.

Skilled Artist won her debut in December 2019 and lost her next 21 starts before she won a handicap at about seven furlongs at Grafton on June 11. Chances are the next losing streak will not last 29 months.

Trained by Alan Boyd, Skilled Artist seems well placed to win at Murwillumbah in a field of 12. Murwillumbah, located on the Australian East Coast south of Brisbane, has a seven-race program beginning at 10:50 p.m. Eastern, or 7:50 p.m. Pacific, on Monday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

Skilled Artist had her second start of 2022 at Grafton. She closed from sixth in a field of 10 to win by a head at 10-1.

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At Murwillumbah, Skilled Artist is favorably drawn in post 7, which should give jockey Anthony Allen ample opportunity to place the 5-year-old mare in her typical stalking position. Skilled Artist has raced as close as second in the first half of some of her recent starts.

The handicap looks to be a good spot for Princess Sparkles, a winner of 2 of 20 starts who was second and third in her first two starts of the year since early May. At Gold Coast Racecourse on June 4, Princess Sparkles closed from 12th in a field of 13 in a seven-furlong handicap to miss by 1 1/4 lengths.

Princess Sparkles won at about a mile, 50 yards earlier in her career and should be suited to this longer race compared to her last start.

The veteran in the field is Polemic, an 8-year-old gelding who has won 6 of 62 starts, but is winless in his last 11 starts since a handicap at 1 3/16 miles in the second week of June 2021. Polemic has not raced since a third by three-quarters of a length in a handicap at Grafton on April 29. He is another contender who tends to run from off the pace.