Uma Musume Pretty Derby players have united to send their love to a famous retired Japanese Racehorse, Haru Urara. The sheer volume of orders to send gifts of ryegrass to her stable door sporadically crashed the Japanese ryegrass gifting website Live Grass Bank.
Famous for not winning a single race out of the 113 runs in her career, Haru Urara was instead added to the Uma Musume game to race again – this time, in digital form.
What is Uma Musume Pretty Derby?
Free to play and available across PC and mobile, Uma Musume Pretty Derby is a Gacha Game that has been taking the world by storm.
The racing game features characters based on real-life racehorses. Unsurprisingly, players aim to guide their characters to victory, raising and training their Umamusume to their fullest potential.
Although based on racehorses, these characters are animated as girls with hybrid horse-like features.
In the game, one character has gained the attention of players for their subject of inspiration – Haru Urara.
Who is Haru Urara, and why have Uma Musume fans fallen in love with her?
Haru Urara is a beloved Japanese racehorse. Her fame does not stem from her success – far from it, in fact. She is known for being one of the worst racehorses in Japanese history.
In 113 racing starts, she did not win a single race. However, her iconic Hello Kitty racing gear made her a sweetheart to horse racing fans. After her 80th consecutive race loss, mainstream Japanese press picked up her story and made her a household name.
Ever since, Haru Urara has been affectionately known as “the shining star of losers everywhere.”
At her most popular in 2004, over 13,000 horse racing spectators waited in line for hours to place a bet on her 106th race. She lost, of course, but losing a bet is often considered a ward against bad luck or car accidents in Japan. Her fans were happy no matter how she performed.
Haru Urara’s Uma Musume profile honours her legacy, reminding players, “she’s on a losing streak… but she never gives up!”
So, how did players crash a grass gifting website?
Learning about Haru Urara’s inspiring losing streak has caused the public to fall in love with her all over again, 19 years after she retired from racing.
The flood of fresh Uma Musume fans has been so passionate in their support that they have overwhelmed the Japanese ryegrass gifting website Live Grass Bank with intense traffic. Concerns that the beloved horse may not receive her gifts as a result were calmed by the site in a statement reassuring that her grass will be sent out over time.
Videos posted on X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok confirm that Haru Urara is receiving her well-earned presents.
Haru Urara can still inspire us all.
Winning is not always about coming first. Sometimes, you can win at life by being the shining star of losers, everywhere.