Race Horse Haru Urara, Inspiration for Uma Musume Pretty Derby Franchise Character, Dies
- Jean-Carlos Matellan
- Sep 9, 2025
- 2 min read
Throroughbred race horse had 113-loss streak before she retired
The official X/Twitter account for the Uma Musume Pretty Derby franchise announced that Haru Urara, the Thoroughbred race horse that served as the inspiration for the franchise's character of the same name, died peacefully on Tuesday. She was 29.
A veterinarian checked on Urara on Monday when she was not defecating. Urara had horse colic, a form of abdominal pain caused from intestinal buildup of improperly digested material. Her condition worsened on early Tuesday morning before she died.
Urara had a perfect losing streak during her career from 1998-2004, with a record 113 losses and zero wins. She became popular as a horse who never won, but also never gave up. She retired in 2004, and spent the rest of her life in Matha Farm in Onjuku, Chiba.
Urara was immortalized into the Uma Musume franchise with her own anthropomorphic horse character at the game's launch in February 2021. Much like her real-life counterpart, her in-game character is also described as on a losing streak. Yukina Shutō voices Urara in the games and anime adaptations.
Her character also got her own spinoff manga Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Haru Urara Ganbaru! in 2016. The real horse Urara's popularity from her character in the franchise as well as from her famous losing streak have garnered her fans, who have visited her and donated to her at Matha Farm.
The Uma Musume Pretty Derby game launched in February 2021 for iOS and Android. The game launched on PC via DMM Games in March 2021. The game launched in English for iOS and Android devices on June 26. The Uma Musume: Cinderella Gray manga inspired an new anime that premiered on April 6. The anime franchise includes previous TV seasons, the Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Road to the Top net anime, and the Umayon spinoff television anime. Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Shinjidai no Tobira (Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Beginning of a New Era), a new anime film in the franchise, opened in May 2024.
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