If you’ve ever been interested in anime, horse racing, and mobile games, Uma Musume: Pretty Derby is a fun mix you won’t want to miss.
Unlike other mobile games, Uma Musume has a special way of playing that’s all about strategy. It grabs players with a blend of raising horse girls (Uma Musume), training them, and taking part in exciting virtual races.
In this guide, we’ll cover how to get started, tips for training, and important plans to focus on.
What is Uma Musume: Pretty Derby?
At its core, Uma Musume: Pretty Derby is both a game about pretending and racing. The idea is that you raise horse girls (horse-like versions of famous racehorses) and help them become winners.
This means training, picking support cards, making their stats better, and planning their career paths well. The game isn’t just about making strong racers but also about training each Uma to unlock new skills while keeping things fun.
Your main goal is to build a tough group of Uma Musume across different racing types: sprint, mile, medium, long-distance, and dirt racing.
These special racers will eventually compete against other players for rewards and rankings. Along the way, the deep story, character tales, and happy racing events make Uma Musume feel exciting and always changing.
But don’t be fooled: Uma Musume is not a normal “pick a strong character and win” kind of game. Horse girls’ growth starts from the bottom, and that’s where your strategy comes into play.
Getting Started: Don’t Roll for Characters First
One of the first and most important beginner mistakes to avoid in Uma Musume is rolling for characters (the horse girls) when starting out.
While they are the main part of the game, how strong your horse girls are depends a lot on the quality of the support cards in your deck.
Focus on Support Cards First
Support cards are more important than the horse girls themselves because they decide how well your training will work. These cards make stats better (like speed, stamina, or power), unlock special skills, and help make the training process easier. Without strong support cards, even the best horses won’t get as good as they could be.
The game lets you reroll, and as a beginner, it’s a good idea to reroll your account until you get high-tier support cards. Some of the best cards include:
- Fine Motion: Great for its race bonus, early friendship gauge, and training stamina efficiency.
- Tazuna Hayakawa: Useful for early scenarios, but may not be as good in later game updates.
How to Reroll
- Return to the title menu, select “Delete User Data” to reset.
- Start anew while keeping the game client data.
- Reroll support cards until you land on high-value ones like Fine Motion.
- Repeat the process as necessary.
While rerolling may seem boring, it’s worth spending the time for long-term success.
Choosing and Raising Your First Horse Girl
Once your support cards are ready, it’s time to focus on choosing your first horse girl.
Here are a few tips:
Avoid Picking a 3-Star Horse You Can’t Raise
At first, you’ll get a voucher to select a horse girl. Avoid picking any horse girl whose support card you already have.
For example, if you pulled Silent Suzuka’s support card, don’t choose Silent Suzuka as your first horse girl. This is because support cards can’t be used to help train the same horse girl (they represent “best friends” in the game).
Consider Each Horse Girl’s Specialists
It’s important to understand what each horse girl is best at:
- Silent Suzuka: Strong front-runner with a focus on speed.
- Mejiro McQueen: Great for long-distance; stamina is her specialty.
- Symboli Rudolph: Well-rounded and stamina-based.
Some horse girls, like Rice Shower, are “quirky” with special challenges. Raising them can be fun but tricky due to bad events affecting their mood. For your first playthrough, choose simpler horse girls who can reach goals without too much trouble.
The Training Loop: Gameplay Foundations
The core of Uma Musume is its training loop. Over a three-year period (in-game), your goal is to boost specific stats and prepare your horse girl in each special run.
Key Stats to Focus On
Training is all about building stats that fit your horse girl’s racing specialty. The main stats are:
- Speed: Vital for sprinters and front-runners.
- Stamina: Essential for long races where endurance is critical.
- Power: Helps horses overtake rivals by improving acceleration.
- Guts: Assists in maintaining momentum and recovering from bad positioning.
- Wit (Wisdom): Increases skill activation frequency and tactical performance.
Each stat greatly influences a specific racing style, so build your training strategy to match.
How to Train Properly
Training Basics
Each training session raises specific stats. For example:
- Speed training boosts speed the most, with small power gains.
- Stamina training increases stamina the most, with small improvements to guts.
At first, focus on choosing training options with zero failure rates to avoid penalties. As you get better, taking strategic risks becomes part of the game, balancing failure rates against benefits.
Friendship and Support Card Effectiveness
Support cards come into play during training. You’ll see them in specific sessions. Training sessions that include support cards help build friendship levels, shown by orange-bordered bars. As friendships get stronger, the cards provide bonuses:
- Training Output Boosts: Once friendship levels hit max, sessions with that card greatly increase stat gains.
- Skill Hints: Support cards provide hints for new skills you later unlock by spending points.
Friendship Training
Friendship training sessions stand out with rainbow auras. Make these a priority, as they offer huge bonuses.
Managing Energy and Mood
Keeping your horse girl’s energy and mood up is very important. Lower energy increases risk during training, while a bad mood reduces overall stat gains.
Recovering Energy
- Resting: Ideally done when energy levels are low to avoid training penalties.
- Wit Training: Helps restore small amounts of energy.
Mood Improvement
- Doing well in training or race events can improve mood.
- Avoid too many training failures, as they lower mood a lot.
Participating in Races
Debut Race
Your first major goal is the “Make Debut” race. Winning this event is very important to your horse girl’s career. Focus training beforehand to make sure she’s ready.
Key Race Considerations
When selecting races:
- Turf vs. Dirt: Choose based on your horse girl’s proficiency (check her stats).
- Distance and Strategy: Match races to her optimal style (front-runner, late-racer, etc.).
Building for PvP and Legacy
PvP (player versus player) is one of the long-term goals in Uma Musume. To climb the ranks and get better rewards, you’ll need a balanced team of racers covering all five categories:
- Sprint
- Mile
- Medium
- Long-distance
- Dirt
Raising Legacy Uma Musume
One unique feature of the game is the ability to pass down traits and stats from veteran horse girls (known as Legacy Uma). Once you finish a career, that horse becomes available to help future runs.
Trait Inheritance
- Pick legacy Umas based on compatibility and inherited stats.
- Traits improve racing aptitude, stat growth, and skill availability for the next generation.
Over time, developing a strong pool of legacy Umas ensures better offspring and stronger PvP teams.
Tips for Success
- Reroll for Quality Support Cards: Aim for top-tier cards like Fine Motion early on.
- Balance Training with Races: Races are more than just stat-checks—they are important for rewards.
- Utilize Summer Camps: These short windows allow all training levels to max out temporarily; use them wisely.
- Experiment with Horse Girls: Try different combinations of training, skills, and traits to learn effective playstyles.
- Focus on Primary Stats First: Specialize horses by prioritizing 1-2 stats that matter most to their role.
Conclusion
Uma Musume: Pretty Derby is a fantastic mobile game perfect for players who enjoy strategy, progression, and the charm of anime. By understanding the importance of support cards, fine-tuning training, and using the trait inheritance system, you can raise amazing horse girls and climb the ranks of PvP.
Don’t be afraid to fail or try new things—each run is a chance to improve your legacy Uma stable. With time, you’ll develop powerful racers, master the gameplay mechanics, and fully appreciate the creativity this game offers.
Go ahead, join the race, and may your chosen Uma Musume reach the finish line in the game!
