Churchill Downs, the site of the Kentucky Derby and many other horse races, was cold and muddy on Saturday, May 3, 2025. That didn't stop hundreds of people – decked out in their finest dresses, suits, and of course hats with a layer of rain poncho on top – from attending, nor did it stop me.
The only difference is I wasn't there for the actual Derby; I was there for one reason and one reason only: to play a horse girl gacha game.
I'd discovered some weeks prior that Japanese developer Cygames, known for popular titles like Granblue Fantasy and Shadowverse among others, would sponsor the actual real-life Kentucky Derby where physical horses zoom around and people make bets. The unlikely connective tissue between the two is the popular mobile video game Umamusume: Pretty Derby.
On your marks
If you're not familiar, Umamusume: Pretty Derby sees players train and compete with horse girls – broadly referred to as Umamusume, both plural and singular – that you can "recruit" via digital currency that you can buy or earn for free, inspired by actual Japanese racehorses. Taking part in races allows you to improve your favorite racer's stats, and between each you can forge bonds with others as you build your stable of stars. There's an idol aspect to it all, with the management of relationships and school life and events, and that even includes concerts.
And Umamusume: Pretty Derby is wildly successful in Japan despite its age – the app launched back in 2021, and the manga it's based on released back in 2016. According to a Sensor Tower report from September 2024, while the Dragon Quest franchise beat it out on mobile in the country across multiple games, Pretty Derby was top dog (top horse?) for a single game. This, according to the report, was thanks in part to the game's third anniversary celebration driving revenue increases.
Even so, it struck me as particularly odd and amusing at the time that Cygames would bother as despite its overall popularity, Umamusume: Pretty Derby still has not actually been released in English. (The English release date was later announced, ahead of the event, as June 26.) But the sponsorship announcement indicated there'd be an actual, physical Cygames booth located in Churchill Downs' infield… with Umamusume: Pretty Derby playable.
Get set… Go!
As it happens, I'm actually based out of Louisville, KY, which is rarely helpful in my line of work and often instead actively troublesome. And the Kentucky Derby also happens to, well, happen in Louisville, KY. In this particular moment, the stars aligned, and a lengthy back-and-forth email that initially seemed surprised by my interest did end with me getting assurances that yes, I really could come play during the Derby.
"The path there was muddy and littered with discarded White Claw and High Noon cans"
And so, on an exceedingly rainy Saturday, I walked for an hour to play the horse girl gacha game Umamusume: Pretty Derby at the actual Kentucky Derby. The path there was muddy and littered with discarded White Claw and High Noon cans, and roughly 90% of the people I encountered fell easily within a small number of college student stereotypes. Given the proximity to the University of Louisville, I wasn't exactly shocked.
But I had wondered from the jump whether the vibes juxtaposition of the two would even remotely work. When I think of Cygames taking its games on the road, I think of, say, Anime Expo with an orderly-if-chaotic booth. Not the racetrack, and certainly not the infield of one. I'm not alone either, as Sam Aune of Sensor Tower told Sports Business Journal, "I have to wonder how much their audience overlaps with the Kentucky Derby audience."
And yet there Cygames was, with its wet tent squeezed between the U.S. Army Reserve and a much larger tent for betting owned and operated by Churchill Downs itself. Several staff members milled about and smiled, offering fans and pens while people in various states of drenched and drunk filtered in and out.
While Cygames provided demos for Shadowverse: Worlds Beyond, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, and Granblue Fantasy: Relink in addition to Umamusume: Pretty Derby, by far the biggest draw for wanderers seemed to be a photo opportunity in the corner that was basically an excuse to pose with some professional lighting. The trajectory for most folks seemed to be 1) ducking out of the rain because the tent happened to be there and open before 2) getting convinced to snap a free photo and then 3) ducking back out.
Game time
"What I saw was polished and well produced, and it does genuinely feel like it will serve a unique niche"
In total, I spent roughly two hours hanging out with my digital Umamusume pals between the main story, hangout events, career mode, and tutorial section. While the text was entirely in English, only Japanese VO was available, making it difficult to gauge what the final product might actually look like come the end of June as I only scratched the surface and couldn't get a good sense of the monetization or rates as free banners seemed to be entirely turned off.
As someone only tangentially aware of the franchise, the breadth and depth of Umamusume: Pretty Derby was surprising. Races are surprisingly complicated with stats like Guts, Power, Wit; chosen stances like Pace or Front to keep close to the pack to overtake later or try to stay in the lead from the jump; and a variety of skills, moods, and more. There's plenty of granularity there for anyone that wants it, and the majority of my time was spent training, throwing myself against a race, and training more.
But it all comes down to launch in the end. Will it update regularly enough? What kind of bugs might there be? How stingy will the gacha elements feel? How about the full translation – will it be good? What I saw was polished and well produced, and it does genuinely feel like it will serve a unique, underserved niche in the market.
Part of that belief was reaffirmed then and there at the Kentucky Derby, even. While the vast majority of patrons that managed to wander into the tent were intrigued at best by Umamusume: Pretty Derby, tapping for a bit before abandoning it, as I was getting ready to leave a pair of young men excitedly beelined straight toward it when they saw the logo outside. They'd come from Chicago, and told me at least one big reason was to play the horse girl gacha game.
Umamusume: Pretty Derby officially launches in English on June 26, 2025 for iOS, Android, and PC via Steam.
Want more, erm, racing games I guess? We've got our heated ranking for the best racing games that'll make you feel the speed!
