Haru Urara, the mare who received over horse racing lovers in Japan and overseas together with her perpetual shedding streak, has died. She was 29.
Yuko Miyahara, a consultant for Urara’s longtime care facility Matha Farm within the southeast Chiba prefecture of Japan, confirmed to Japanese outlet Friday Digital that the animal athlete died early Tuesday of colic. She was surrounded by employees.
“Urara was 29. In human years that’s nearly 90, however actually, till yesterday she was doing rather well,” Miyahara stated within the article, which was translated to English. “It was so sudden … currently Uhara was getting guests even from outdoors Japan. It’s actually unlucky.”
The horse, whose identify interprets to Wonderful Spring, debuted in 1998 on the Kochi Racecourse. The observe marketed its resilient star’s shedding streak as a part of its efforts to keep in enterprise. Urara’s popularity — bolstered by her signature pink racing equipment and fan merchandise — breached the sides of the Kochi racetrack and made her a worldwide phenomenon. In 2004 former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi even expressed his help for the mare.
“I’d wish to see Haru Urara win, even simply as soon as,” Koizumi stated. “The horse is an efficient instance of not giving up within the face of defeat.”
Skilled by her longtime coach Dai Muneishi, Urara saved racing — she misplaced a complete of 113 races and completed second in solely 4 of these — till her retirement in August 2004. Her proprietor on the time parted methods with the Kochi racetrack and Urara disappeared for a number of years after her retirement. Since 2014 she had been receiving care at Matha Farms.
Her profession and surprising international fame have been the topic of the 2016 ESPN documentary “The Shining Star for Losers In every single place.”
“On the time, Haru Urara will need to have been a star of hope for the losers,” coach Muneishi stated within the documentary.
Curiosity in Urara’s legacy of shedding and resilience reignited earlier this yr with the worldwide launch of the cell recreation “Uma Musume: Fairly Derby” in June. “Uma Musume,” initially launched in Japan in 2021, is a racing simulator that re-imagines real-life racehorses as anime horsegirls. Gamers are “trainers” who help racers, leveling them as much as climb the ranks. Within the online game, Haru Urara is a horsegirl whose options are numerous shades of pink. Her character can be featured within the “Uma Musume: Fairly Derby” anime sequence.
The sport’s official X (previously Twitter) account shared the information of the racehorse’s demise “with heavy hearts” and mourned the “legendary” athlete.
“We share our condolences to all of the employees concerned in Haru Urara’s care,” the publish stated.
Occasions employees author Tracy Brown contributed to this report.
