by Kimberly French, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Kimberly French

Louisville, KY — She is enjoying her best season yet, will be gunning for her third consecutive triumph on Saturday (Dec. 26) at Northfield Park and has been a valued member of the Schillaci barn for four years, but when Sam and Jodi purchased Get Your Armor his dad was madder than a hornet. In fact, the transaction that procured her was one big, giant mistake.

“My father had more than a few choice words for me,” said Sam Schillaci, the mare’s trainer/driver. “We bought her for $13,000 at the Harrisburg Sale and then found out we bought the wrong horse. What made matters even worse was when we got back to her stall to look at her she was completely toed-in on her front legs. It was not just a cosmetic thing, but a serious problem. Fortunately, Murray Brown was kind enough to allow us to put her through the sale again and my dad refused to take less than a $1,000 loss on her, so we bought her back for $12,000.”

A daughter of American Ideal and the Nihilator mare Mystic Money, Get Your Armor is the 2-1 morning line favorite in the $13,000 Filly and Mare Open Pace at Northfield Park on Saturday. The 5-year-old mare will have to contend with post position eight and eight rivals as she attempts to break the $100,000 mark for purse money earned in 2015. Schillaci, who recorded his 3,000th driving victory on May 4 over the same oval, will be holding the lines for her mile journey.

“She really enjoys the speed of the races here at Northfield Park,” Schillaci said. “They go fast fractions in front early on and that is the way she likes to race. She tends to be hot and it is hard to hold her. At Northfield the pace suits her so that is not a problem. She generally does well here.”

JJ Zamaiko photo

Get Your Armor has won 16 times in her career, while earning $185,549.

Get Your Armor sports a career record of 102-16-21-18, has collected $185,549 and paced her swiftest mile of 1:52.4 on Dec. 11. She has improved each year with $8,718 in the bank from six miles as a freshman, $22,514 from 23 starts as a sophomore, $58,822 from 32 voyages to the gate as a 4-year-old and $95,495 from 41 trips to the post this year.

“After we bought her back and realized we were going to keep her I really started looking into her pedigree,” Schillaci said. “It is absolutely outstanding and full of class.”

The Ohio native is referring to her dam, who made just shy of $140,000 during her days of competition, and her siblings. Get Your Armor is a half-sibling to Money Sign (Life Sign, $123,573), Mystic Art (Artsplace, $421,903) and Mystic Gold (Artsplace, $199,794). From the 12 foals Mystic Money has produced only three have not won a race, one of which died, and only two, including that foal, have no money on their card. Mystic Art and Mystic Gold cost $210,000 and $145,000, respectively, as yearlings.

Racy Kathy, who is by Race Time, is Get Your Armor’s granddam and while she never made it to the races, she produced four $100,000 winners.

Despite this mare’s defective conformation and tendency to always want her way, she has always performed like a horse with no physical flaws.

“When we were training her down people would not want to jog next to her because they were afraid she would take them out,” Schillaci said. “That is how bad of a paddle she has to her stride. She is so pigeon-toed there has been no way to correct it. Even when you watch a head on view of her in her races, you can see how awful her stride looks.

“It has never ever caused a problem for her though. She has not allowed it to. We have never had one problem physically with her and she has never caused us to have any vet bills. It’s really quite shocking for a horse that has that issue. I’ve never seen anything like her.”

Although she will have paced 42 pari-mutuel trips this year, Schillaci has not determined when or if Get Your Armor will receive a break from racing.

“She has literally raced for two years straight,” he said. “I’ve tried to give her a break and she’s never wanted one. She is really enjoying what she is doing right now and doesn’t want to stop. In fact, she lets us know she will have none of it. I know it’s unusual to race a horse for that long, but if time off is not what she wants to do, then she will continue to race.

“There a lot of things about his mare that are unusual though. She has overcome so much adversity just to make the races, let alone make almost $200,000. We are very, very proud of what she has accomplished and look forward to see what she will continue to do. They always say classy horses can overcome anything that is thrown at them and this mare is a prime example of that.”