The series follows Special Week, a horse girl who moves to a school in Tokyo as part of her goal of becoming the best horse girl in Japan.
Characters
The characters are based on famous Japanese racehorses. ;Special Week ;Silence Suzuka ;Trainer ;Tokai Teio ;Vodka ;Daiwa Scarlet ;Gold Ship ;Mejiro McQueen ;Air Groove ;El Condor Pasa ;Oguri Cap ;Grass Wonder ;Symboli Rudolf ;Taiki Shuttle ;T M Opera O ;Narita Brian ;Hishi Amazon ;Fuji Kiseki ;Maruzensky ;Seiun Sky ;Yukino Bijin ;Winning Ticket ;Tamamo Cross ;Seeking the Pearl ;Manhattan Cafe ;Tosen Jordan ;Haru Urara ;Kawakami Princess ;Mejiro Ryan ;Matikanefukukitaru ;Fine Motion ;Smart Falcon ;Narita Taishin ;Air Shakur ;Gold City ;Super Creek ;Inari One ;Nishino Flower ;Biko Pegasus ;Hishi Akebono ;Bamboo Memory ;Marvelous Sunday ;Mihono Bourbon ;Sweep Tosho ;Ines Fujin ;Biwa Hayahide ;Sakura Bakushin O ;Shinko Windy ;Agnes Tachyon ;Zenno Rob Roy ;Meisho Doto ;Rice Shower ;Admire Vega ;Curren Chan ;Agnes Digital ;Eishin Flash ;Nakayama Festa ;Mayano Top Gun ;Mejiro Dober ;Nice Nature ;King Halo
Media
Game
The game was announced in 2016. An animated trailer by P.A.Works debuted at that year's AnimeJapan event. It was set to be released in late 2018, but has been delayed.
Manga
A manga series illustrated by S. Kozuki titled Starting Gate!: Uma Musume Pretty Derby began serialization on Cygames' Cycomics website on March 25, 2017. The manga has been compiled into four tankōbon volumes as of March 29, 2019. A four-panel manga series titled Umayon, written and illustrated by Jet Kuma, began serialization on Cygames' Cycomics website in March 2018.
Anime
A 13-episode anime television series adaptation by P.A.Works aired from April 2 to June 18, 2018 on Tokyo MX, with the first two episodes being broadcast back-to-back. Crunchyroll streamed the series. The anime is directed by Kei Oikawa at P.A.Works with scripts written by Masafumi Sugiura and Akihiro Ishihara. Utamaro Movement composed the music at Lantis. The series' opening theme is "Make Debut" and the ending theme is "Grow Up Shine!"; both are sung by Azumi Waki, Marika Kouno, Machico, Ayaka Ōhashi, Chisa Kimura, Hitomi Ueda, and Saori Ōnishi. An anime television series based on the four-panel manga spinoff titled Umayon premiered on July 7, 2020. The series is directed by Seiya Miyajima at DMM.futureworks and W-Toon Studio.
