Shout Out / Uma Musume

The grave of the Real Life Silence Suzuka, adorned with an image and a CD of his anime counterpart

The entire series is one big Shout-Out to Japanese Horse Racing, with the plot appearing to follow, mostly, the 1998 season (while pulling in Special Week's maiden race from 1997), then, from Episode 8, the 1999 season. A lot of little Real Life facts get reflected in the anime, to the point that, weirdly, Very Loosely Based on a True Story applies.

A Japanese Youtuber known as Anime Fan has released, so far, two videos covering real life facts that are reflected in this anime. A few of the prototypes of the main characters can be seen in action in this video. One can also search for the race record of every horse and look for videos of the races to see more of the originals.

Characters and opening

• Nearly all the horsegirls are real life racehorses, though most of the real life prototypes◊, including Special Week and Silence Suzuka, are, or were, stallions (male horses). They tend to be Real Life examples of Cool Horse, and in some cases "who of the horses is/was cooler" would be a cause for a flame war among racing fans. If you don't mind Nico Nico, you can see the opening with all the real horses here (lots of Freeze-Frame Bonus as many characters only appear briefly).
  • There is an indicator of sex of the Real Life prototype in character design: stallions have decorations on the right ear, mares on the left ear.
    • Fine Motion has decoration on both sides since she is more accurately described as Intersex.^explanationWhen real!Fine retired to become a broodmare, she was bred right away but no matter what, she couldn't get pregnant. It later turned out that she had a condition that rendered her infertile. While no official sources ever confirmed what that condition was, many have speculated that she had some unspecified intersex condition.
  • Back to Nico Nico, you can see the Season 2 opening, real life edition, here.
    • In one scene of this opening, Kitasan Black is replaced by real!Kita-chan's much more famous owner, Saburo Kitajima.
• The design of the characters often references the prototypes.
  • Girls often have a white streak of hair, representing the white spot on the horse's head.
  • Grass Wonder even had a little brown dot on the white streak of hair - because the real Grass Wonder has that dot on the white area of his head.
  • Silence Suzuka is a redhead who likes to wear green ear covers. The real horse was red and raced in a green head mask that included ear covers.
• This video goes over many of the references to the real horses and how they are reflected in the racing outfits of their horsegirl counterparts.
• While horses as teenage girls sounds like playing to otaku fantasy, the "teenage" part is pretty close to reality. A 3-year-old horse (as Special Week was in the 1998 season, which the anime is based on) is an "older teenager" in human terms, just like the anime character; a 4-year-old like Silence Suzuka is a "young adult". A Derby in most places, including Japan, is a race of 3-year-old horses, so it really is, in a way, a competition of teenagers (but mostly boys).
• Special Week's mother (dam), Campaign Girl, did die shortly after the birth, and Special Week was manually fed by farm hands - in real-life Hokkaido, too.
  • The trainer responsible for breaking Special Week was a lady from New Zealand. The anime counterpart's stepmother has blond hair.
• Grass Wonder was recovering from an injury during most of the 1998 season. She is shown with a bandaged leg in the first few episodes.
  • In Episode 6 she returns to racing at Mainichi Okan, as in real life. And, also as in reality, fails to win.
• Haru Urara is a racehorse famous for never being able to win, yet keeping the pluck. The character reflects this trait.
• Gold Ship is a funky, weird, unpredictable horse. His varying "facial" expressions were well reflected in the horse girl, and so is his general character (except the real horse kicks and rears and has hurt a few people, too, while the horsegirl just know some martial arts moves). The horse is also quite smart, so that Rubik's Cube in Gold Ship's hands does mean something, too. There is a Twitter account for the real horse, with a few more lively photos.
• Both Silence Suzuka and Special Week race with different colored shoes since their real life horse counterparts◊ had different colored hooves.
• Tokai Teio teaches Spica girls to dance. Real-life Tokai Teio could do dressage, which is basically dancing for horses. The anime Tokai Teio proudly does the Teio step... which was totally real, and for a racehorse, pretty marvelous.
• Oguri Cap is a Big Eater. The real Oguri Cap did love to eat a lot, too - he's said to have regularly eaten more than twice of a racehorse's normal portion. When put on a diet to slim down, his appetite drove him to eat the straw bedding in his stall.
• A very early scene in the anime shows an Oguri Cap plushie; In the game, several events have her encountering plushies of herself. Historically, the real Oguri Cap's popularity led to a boom in the sales of racehorse plushies, to the point where they could be bought at regular stores instead of just racecourse souvenir shops.
• A friendly rivalry exists between Vodka and Daiwa Scarlet in the anime. The Real Life horses (both of them mares) also had an ongoing rivalry, competing against each other in a number of races.
• Mihono Bourbon being characterized as a Cyborg is a nod to the real-life horse's nickname, which is 'Cyborg'.
• There seems to be a pattern that a "descendant" looks up to the "progenitor" (more precisely, the girl based on the descendant looks up to the girl based on the progenitor):
  • Tokai Teio wants to be like the President, Symboli Rudolf, who is a Triple Crown winner. The real-life Symboli Rudolf (who indeed was a Triple Crown winner) was the father (sire) of the real-life Tokai Teio.
  • Episode 5 shows Gold Ship pestering Mejiro McQueen and wanting to run with her so much that eventually McQueen joins Spica. In real life Mejiro McQueen was the maternal grandfather (damsire) of Gold Ship.
  • Also in Episode 5, upon seeing Maruzensky, Special Week is stunned by her beauty. In real life, Maruzensky was the maternal grandfather (damsire) of Special Week.
  • A variation possibly occurs between Special Week and Silence Suzuka since their real-life counterparts were siblings sharing the same sire (Sunday Silence). It makes it look like a younger sister (Spe-chan) looking up to their big sister (Suzuka). On the other hand, Sunday Silence was a major sire and has a few other children in the anime or game too, such as Admire Vega and Marvelous Sunday; "same sire" relationships are generally not considered to be serious in racing (unlike "same dam"). So the Les Yay reading of Suzuka and Spe-chan's relationship does not amount to incest.
  • In the game, Daiwa Scarlet respects and looks up to Agnes Tachyon. In real life, the latter is the father (sire) of the former.
  • Likewise, Vodka respects and looks up to Tanino Gimlet in the game. The latter is the sire of the former in real life.
  • In the game, Sakura Chiyono O admires Maruzensky. IRL, Maruzensky is the sire of Chiyono O.
  • Matikanefukukitaru worships a god named Shiraoki-sama. The real Shiraoki was a racehorse who raced from the late '40s to early '50, and a far ancestor of the real Fukukitaru.
• Kitasan Black's father is a well-loved Enka singer. It reflects the real-life Kitasan Black's owner Saburō Kitajima, a famous Enka singer. That's why horse girl Kitasan Black loves Matsuri, the Japanese traditional festival. There is a Kitajima's work named Matsuri.
• In the game, Machikane Tannhauser dislikes real spiders (but it seems she likes cute spider characters). It is based on a rumor about the 1994 Arima Kinen. Her real-life counterpart canceled the race due to hives, and some say an unlucky spider he accidentally ate caused it.
• Twin Turbo had the nickname "reverse thrusters" due to slowing down immensely in the last stretch. People used to joke when Turbo won a race that the thrusters were broken.
• Aston Machan likes spy movies. It came from her Punny Name. When the owner of the racehorse Aston Machan named her, she made a pun out of Aston Martin her nickname Ma-chan.
• The brief racing clips in the opening sequences refer to famous wins of real-life horses. They even have references to the races that the protagonists will take part in along with its results so beware of spoilers:
  • Vodka, a mare (female horse), pushing ''stallions'' aside in a breakthrough to win the 2009 Yasuda Kinen.
  • Gold Ship coming in on the inside (from 2:25, he is no. 14) to win Satsuki Sho in 2012.
  • Tokai Teio winning by a hair breadth in 1993 Arima Kinen and breaking into tears. In real life, it was the jockey who cried.
  • Mejiro McQueen's racing clip is too brief to identify with certainty, but it appears to be the 1990 Kikka Sho; the umbrellas can be seen on the video at 2:58.
  • Suzuka's racing clips are not yet identified, but the real-life horse raced like that (firmly in the lead) for most of the 1998 season. However, there is a brief sequence of her winning a race in Tokyo in a G1 outfit. The real life horse never won a G1 in Tokyo.
  • There are other Real Life references in the opening. Notably, an aerial view of Hidaka Taiyo Bokujo, the farm where Special Week was born.
  • Daiwa Scarlet won the 2008 Arima Kinen, leading the pack from start to finish.
• The racing clips in the season 2 opening sequences refer to notable races that real-life counterparts of Team Canopus members participated in. You can see the references here.

Race runs in episodes

Season 1

• The racing is pretty close to the historical 1998 and (after New Year in Episode 8) 1999 seasons, so for an unlikely source of (kinda, sometimes) spoilers, one can look at racing records. JBIS Search has records for several real races, including Special Week, Silence Suzuka, El Condor Pasa, and Grass Wonder.
• The race in Episode 1, where Suzuka stars and wins while Special Week watches from the audience, appears to be Valentine Stakes, held on February 14, 1998, at the Tokyo Racecourse (which is the pictured racecourse). Suzuka is number 12 in the anime, as in the real race. This also means that one of the girls on stage with her is Horse's Neck, who was second in that race (and is not officially listed as an Umamusume character).
• Episode 2 has Special Week's maiden race, which is taken from the 1997 season. Comparison video
  • But note that Queen Berry, the runner-up, does not reference a real horse. Some other participants are also clearly "fictional" (that is, not based on real horses).
• Episode 3 covers two races, the Yayoi Sho (comparison video) and Satsuki Sho (comparison video). For Satsuki Sho, in the anime the girls do not wear their numbers this time, so for ease of viewing: Seiun Sky is number 3, King Halo is number 12, and Special Week is number 18.
• At the end of Episode 4 Team Spica watches a televised race where El Condor Pasa wins. This appears to be the NHK Mile Cup, which he did win in real life. In the interview after the race, Hana mentions "five races, five wins", which appears to be true for El Condor Pasa at that moment (but the real trainer seems to have been male). The interview is followed by an announcement that El Condor Pasa is going to run in the Derby, which takes the girls by surprise - and also takes viewers who read real history as spoilers by similar surprise.
• Nippon Derby in Episode 5 does not follow the real race... for a very good reason. El Condor Pasa did not run in this race in 1998 because he was not born/bred in Japan. But this rule was scrapped since, and the year in the anime seems to be 2018 (or 2020, if we judge by the calendar of weekdays). If the 1998 situation were happening today, El Condor Pasa would run. Who would have won is a matter of debate among fans, so in retrospect, the tie was probably the safest choice, but it did make for good tension even among viewers who looked up the real race results. There is a comparison video.
  • However, Yasuda Repeat, who is briefly introduced in the race then comes third and is seen in the winning concert, is fully fictional; there was no horse by that name.
• Mainichi Okan in Episode 6 is, again, mostly played "by the book", though some horses who are not represented in the anime are replaced with those from a later timeline (including third-place winner). The important result, Silence Suzuka defeating El Condor Pasa who was never defeated before, is entirely historical. So is the moment when Suzuka does not stop running for a while after crossing the finish line (warning: linked video is a spoiler for race results).
• Episode 6 also includes an eating contest that references a real-life race, but this time, from 1988: the 33rd Arima Kinen (note that the contest is also named "33rd"). As you can see the results of the eating contest broadly match the race results: Oguri Cap was first, Tamamo Cross second, and Super Creek disqualified. Video of the race.
  • A likely prototype of the prize plushie was found in a donut establishment located at Tokyo Racecourse.
• The lineup of Tenno Sho in Episode 7 is heavily modified compared to the Real Life 1998 Tenno Sho, with many girls from the cast added to the lineup instead of real horses that are not a part of this anime. This works really well, especially with El Condor Pasa who joined this race as a rematch against Silence Suzuka and got her win, but is obviously not happy about the way she got it. In Real Life, the rematch was planned for a later race, but Suzuka did not survive to join it. However, the main incident of that race is shown pretty close to reality: after taking an unrealistically huge lead and running ever faster, Silence Suzuka breaks down and starts to slow dramatically, closely following the race video including the large tree behind which something seems to happen; see the video from 4:50, slow-mo at 16:10. The ambulance, seen on the video at 6:17, also makes an appearance. But while the Real Life horse had to be put down because of the multiple fracture, the anime takes things Lighter and Softer, thanks to The Power of Friendship.
  • In Real Life, Silence Suzuka may have saved the life of the jockey, Yutaka Take, that day. Yutaka Take proceeded to ride Special Week, helping him become one of the great racehorses in Japan's history.
  The jockey for Suzuka, Yutaka Take said in a interview once that usually it would not be unlikely for a horse to fall down after breaking its leg while running, but Suzuka did not because he did not want Take to get hurt. Suzuka was known for being a gentle and friendly horse. He also seemed to know what the jockey riding him wanted and would follow orders well.
  • The way Suzuka was saved was taken from the story of a different racehorse.
• Episode 8 time-skips a few months, so it is unclear if Spe-chan had three victories that the Real Life horse had during this period (including Spring 1999 Tenno Sho). However, 1999's Takarazuka Kinen is "played by the book"; it even appears that at the moment when Spe-chan looks back, in Real Life the jockey (Yutaka Take again) looked back.
• Episode 9 includes a televised L'Arc de Triomphe, played by the book as the 1999 race, except that Montjeu is renamed Broye. Genghis Khan, who was the runner-up for much of the race (though finished last), does not get named but gets a distinctive "ethnic" design◊.
• Episode 10 starts with Kyoto Daishoten, where, indeed, Special Week came 7th and TM Opera O came third in 1999. It ends with Tenno Sho autumn, apparently played entirely "by the book" - though the moment where Seiun Sky says she does not like enclosed spaces and proceeds to walk backwards away from the starting gate is quite significantly downplayed from the rather funny (except for those involved) situation at the real 1999 race (starting after 3:25 and lasting about four minutes, with the horse, at one point, marching backwards while blindfolded). The moment before the finish, when several strong horses make their move at once, was quite real.
  • There is a minor change in Tenno Sho: Mejiro Ryan runs, taking the place of Real Life Mejiro Bright. Mejiro Bright was a son of Mejiro Ryan; his horsegirl equivalent would emerge later on, in November 2021.
  • In the middle of the episode, there is a montage of wins by other Team Spica members. This is an obvious Easter Egg; fans who like comparing the anime to Real Life Horse Racing are invited to work out which races are shown. To let you enjoy the task if you want, we place the solution under spoiler tags. You can use this website to find the relevant race records.
    • The team has left a clear clue: the girls wear number bibs. This means, by the world's rules, that all races are non-G1. With this information, wins can be identified by comparing the race records.
    • Tokai Teio has two non-G1 wins under number 2: two-year-old newcomer, Chukyo, 1990 and Sanken Osaka Hai, Hanshin, 1992. Leave her alone for the moment, it will be clear later which it is.
    • Vodka has one win with number 9: Elfin Stakes, Kyoto, 2007. Moreover, the runner-up had number 2 as in the anime.
    • Daiwa Scarlet winning under number 1 means her second race, Sports Hochi Hai, Chukyo, 2006.
    • And now we can solve Tokai Teio, as Teio's finish marker is the same as Daiwa's, so it has to be the same racecourse, Chukyo. Moveover, on a race video from Chukyo, at 1:14 we can glimpse a very similar finish marker. Therefore, Tokai Teio's win is two-year-old newcomer, Chukyo, 1990 - his maiden race.
    • Mejiro McQueen winning a non-G1 race under number 6 means his maiden race, three-year-old newcomer, Hanshin, 1990. You can notice she is running on bare ground, not grass like the others. This is because that race was on dirt, not turf.
    • Finally, Gold Ship winning under number 4 means Cosmos Sho in Sapporo, his second race.
    • Note that all the races are early in the horses' career, some of them even maiden. Evidently they want the discerning viewer to feel that this, indeed, is only the start of glory for Team Spica.
• In Episode 11 the race is, of course, fictional (as the real Silence Suzuka was not there to race). But it is loosely based on 1999 Capital Stakes (results in Japanese), a race that was indeed run the day before Japan Cup, and "Sun Vizor" is loosely based on Sun Flare, the winner of that race. The arrival of Broye to Japan is of course based on reality: Montjeu was certainly in the country by the time, having arrived to run in Japan Cup.
• Episode 12 has Japan Cup 1999 played generally close to reality, though interaction between Special Week (number 13) and Broye (number 14, real name Montjeu) was emphasized for dramatic reasons. Licensing issues obviously played a role in limiting the display here, with the Winning Live lacking the holders of the second and third places.
• In the bonus episode, the races mentioned at the start are all real, and the snippet of the Arima Kinen for Special Week is close enough to the final race of Special Week the horse in 1999. As for the Winter Dream Tournament, it is indeed a dream race, including the best Japanese horses over three decades. They could never race together; for example, Oguri Cap died before Gold Ship was born. The idea is not new; a 2015 JRA video has a broadly similar lineup and may have been the inspiration for the anime race, which was hinted during the end of the previous episode.
• The first OVA: the race shown at the start, and then again close to the end, is the 1994 Autumn Tenno Sho, but it seems that Winning Ticket and Narita Taishin were switched around. The race that Rudolf watches on the laptop with the others, and that seems to have established "BNW", is the 1993 Japanese Derby.

Season 2

• Episode 2:
  • Tokai Teio's second G1 race the Tokyo Yuushun or more commonly known as the Japanese (Nippon) Derby is based on the 1991 race of the same name. The real-life stallion did indeed suffer a broken left hind leg during the last race, thus ending his dream of becoming a undefeated 3 crown champion. The 3 races the Satsukishou, Japanese Derby and the Kikka Sho are all one time races for each age group (3 year old horses in real life) so once you lose or miss it you can't win it forever. This was why Teio took down the "Triple Crown" part of her goal list despite not losing.
• Episode 3:
  • 1991 Arima Kinen G1: 2nd place: Mejiro McQueen, 14th place: Twin Turbo. The winner, Dai Yusaku, is renamed to Dai Sangen in the Umaverse due to rights issues.
  • 1992 Hanshin Daishoten G2: 6 horses participating, Mejiro McQueen wins.
  • The Osaka cup was a G2 race until 2017 when it became a G1 race. This is why she’s wearing that special outfit and not the training wear.
• Episode 4:
  • Tokai Teio won the 1992 Osaka cup pretty easily. Teio wasn't whipped at the last straight but still won easily. The Osaka Cup or Osaka Hai wasn’t a G1 race until 2017 but it seems that in this world it already is.
  • Mihono Bourbon's 1992 Satsukisho was a easy win. Originally, Bourbon was rated to be a short-distance horse but the trainer decided to make a strong horse by training hard. Bourbon could keep up with even the hardest training earning him the nickname 'Cyborg'.
  • More details in this post.
• Episode 5:
  • Mejiro McQueen did indeed win the 1992 Spring Tenno-sho G1, with Tokai Teio coming in 5th. During the final stretch in real life, it was said that Okabe (at 2nd) panicked upon seeing Take's lead and tried to push Tokai Teio to close the gap, but eventually lost to Mejiro McQueen's stamina and eventually fell to 5th place. More race details here. A few more references:
    • Mejiro McQueen's horseshoe did come off in real life, resulting in the race being delayed by 8 mins.
    • Mejiro Palmer led for most of the race, but eventually gave up the lead to Mejiro McQueen at the final stretch like in anime.
• Episode 6:
  • The three races featured are based on the 1992 Takarazuka Kinen G1, the 1992 Kikka Sho G1, and the 1992 Arima Kinen G1. More details and results here.
• Episode 7:
  • The three races featured are based on the 37th Sankei Osaka Hai (Apr 4, 1993), 106th Fall Tennou Sho (Nov 11, 1992), and the 107th Meguro Kinen (Feb 21, 1993). More details and results here.
• Episode 8:
  • The races featured are the 107th Spring Tennou Sho (Apr 25, 1993) and the 53th Satsuki Sho (Apr 18, 1993). Mejiro McQueen's hesitance to enter the gate is indeed something that really happened. Rice Shower's upset due to beating Mejiro McQueen was so bad that some fans of the latter actually threw their bets in the air. More details for the races here.
• Episode 9:
  • The race in here is based on the 1993 Takarazuka Kinen. Mejiro McQueen wins the race with Ikuno Dictus coming in second.
• Episode 10:
  • The first race is the 1993 Tanabata Sho. This race is famous for the strange commentary made by the commentator when Turbo wins "Howl Twin Turbo!" In this race at the 1000 meter point (the race is 2000 meters) the time is 57 seconds which is the same high pace as Silence Suzuka or a sprint race. More info here.
  • The second race is the 1993 All comers. This was a race against Rice Shower who had just defeated McQueen at the Spring Tennosho so no one expected Turbo to win.
  • Here's a comparison video showing both races synchronized with the relevant footage from the anime. It's worth a watch just to see - and hear - how closely the show matches what really happened.
• Episode 12:
  • The race is a reference to the 1993 Kikka Sho. Biwa Hayahide being in first place while beating Rice Shower's record was indeed what happened in real life.
• Episode 13:
  • The Arima Kinen in question is the 1993 one. Here is the real race along with a comparison video. Tokai Teio's win is considered a "Miraculous Resurrection" after narrowly edging out Biwa Hayahide. This is Tokai Teio's final race before retiring for a stud career. Here is a transcript of the commentary. More details here.

Video Game

• Chapter 1
  • The race that appears in Episode 1 and Episode 2 is the 1990 Arima Kinen. At the time, Oguri Cap was in a slump. He was injured after the Yasuda Kinen and defeated in the Fall Tenno Sho and the Japan Cup. Many believed it was time to retire. So his team decided to make the Arima Kinen his last race. Oguri Cap's fans cheered at him enthusiastically, but he wasn't the most favorite of the day. The first was White Stone, the second was Mejiro Ardan, and the third was Mejiro Ryan. Oguri Cap was only fourth, but the idol horse outran his competitors. The crowd in the racecourse chanted his name to congratulate his last victory.
  • 2R deals with the 1991 Hanshin Daishoten.
  • Episode 6 deals with the 1991 Spring Tenno Sho. As the episode shows, Mejiro McQueen won the race while Mejiro Ryan placed fourth. In real life, Mejiro Palmer, the other Mejiro, was there too. He came 13th, but she doesn't appear in the episode.
  • 3R is a reference to the 1991 Kyoto Daishoten.
  • Episode 10 is about the 1991 Fall Tenno Sho. McQueen finished first in the race. But, as Episode 11 reveals, he interfered with other horses and was eventually disqualified.
  • The End of Episode 11 portrays McQueen finished the Japan Cup fourth.
  • Episode 13 shows the 1991 Arima Kinen. The episode ends with a scene where McQueen and a nameless horse girl compete in the home stretch, and the next episode reveals McQueen lost. The nameless horse girl is a reference to Dai Yusaku, the dark horse (in fact, he was brown) of the race that only his trainer expected his victory.
  • Episode 14 ends with the McQueen's victory of the 1992 Spring Tenno Sho. If you want to read about the race, see Episode 5 of Anime Season 2 part above.
• Chapter 2
  • In Episode 1, Rice Shower mentions she came eighth in the Satsuki Sho.
  • 1R is a reference to the 1992 Japanese Derby. As the next episode reveals, the winner of the race was Mihono Bourbon, and Rice Shower placed second.
  • Episode 4 shows the 1992 Kyoto Shimbun Hai. Rice Shower lost to Mihono Bourbon again in this race.
  • Episode 6 deals with the 1992 Kikka Sho. Rice Shower won this race, ending Mihono Bourbon's winning streak and preventing him from achieving the Triple Crown.
  • 3R is a reference to the 1993 Nikkei Sho. This race was Rice Shower's first victory after the Kikka Sho.
  • Episode 10 concerns the 1993 Spring Tenno Sho. You can see the Season 2 part above for more detailed information about the 1992 Kikka Sho and this race.
  • In Episode 12, the announcer says Biwa Hayahide came first and Rice Shower finished the race fifth. It is a reference to the 1994 Kyoto Kinen.
  • The race in Episode 13 is the 1995 Spring Tenno Sho. After a long slump, Rice Shower won the race. The crowd cheered for his victory this time.
• Chapter 3
  • At the beginning of Episode 1 the narration mentions the 1990 Japanese Derby that Ines Fujin won. Since he was too exhausted to canter, he had to trot when he left the turf. The crowd gathered in the racecourse chanted "Nakano" to congratulate Eiji Nakano, Ines Fujin's jockey.
  • In Episode 4 the narration mentions the 2007 Japanese Derby. Technically, the Japanese Derby is for both colts and fillies. But most horse owners don't have their fillies participate in the Japanese Derby because they don't want to compete with physically bigger and stronger colts. However, Vodka's team did, and she became the first filly to win the Derby after 1943.

Road to the Top

• Episode 1:
  • The race in the intro is the 1999 Yayoi Sho. In the race, Narita Top Road placed first, and Admire Vega was second. Third was Meiner Theater, but he (or she) doesn't appear in the show.
  • TM Opera O won the 1999 Mainichi Hai. The race that TM Opera O and Meisho Doto recall is the 1999 Yukiyanagi Sho.
  • In the show, Opera O wakes up in the wake up in the middle of the night and sees her calendar. The circled dates on the calendar are the days of the race that TM Opear O participated in; the maiden race on Feb. 6, the Yukiyanagi Sho on Feb. 27, the Mainichi Hai on Mar. 28, and the Satsuki Sho on Apr. 18.
  • The winner of the 1999 Satsuki Sho was TM Opera O. Narita Top Road placed third. The second was Osumi Bright, the one wearing glasses on her head in the show.
• Episode 2:
  • Admire Vega won the 1999 Japanese Derby. Narita Top Road was second, and TM Opera O was third. Narita Top Road's jockey Kunihiko Watanabe cried after the defeat.
• Episode 3:
  • Admire Vega won the 1999 Kyoto Shimbun Hai. Narita Top Road was second again.
• Episode 4:
  • The winner of the 1999 Kikka Sho was Narita Top Road. TM Opera O came second, and Admire Vega sixth. The third was Rascal Suzuka, who appears in the show as Rapid Builder.

Other Media

• The Pretty Derby OVA references the notorious 2015 Takarazuka Kinen, where Gold Ship (the odds-on favorite) suddenly reared up in his stall at the very start of the race (known as the "12 billion yen incident" due to the amount of betting slips that were suddenly worthless). In the OVA, Gold Ship leaps onto the wall of her stall to yell at the horsegirl next to her; this references a common theory that the real Gold Ship reared up due to being provoked by the horse next to him. The announcer even recreates the yell of shock she made at the real race.

Other fun real-life references

Season 1

• There is a statue of Symboli Rudolf at the entrance to Tokyo Racecourse. There is no statue to the real Symboli Rudolf. But a statue of a horse in that location does exist◊ (a better photo would be much appreciated); even the trees appear to be the same. The horse is not Symboli Rudolf and does not appear to be named. But in another location at Tokyo Racecourse, there is a statue of Vodka, apparently the one represented in the anime. Vodka was quite alive at the time the statue was placed there (no later than 2014); she had a few foals after that. In fact, statues to living horses seem to be common practice (Frankel was also quite alive in 2015 when he got his statue at Royal Ascot, and in fact Vodka had a foal by him that year).
  • Just in case you're interested: there is a statue of Oguri Cap at Kasamatsu Racecourse, the course featured in the early chapters of Cinderella Gray. There are also two different statues of Tokino Minoru, also known (but don't tell her!) as Hayakawa Tazuna.
• The school motto "Eclipse first, the rest nowhere" is one version of an actual wager placed by the owner of Eclipse, a historically famous racehorse. More information on Eclipse can be found in this article, but to summarize: 95% of modern thoroughbred racehorses, including presumably most - if not all - of the inspirations for the show's characters, are descendants of this one horse.
• In Episode 5, Symboli Rudolf told El Condor Pasa just before the Japanese Derby, "They say no absolute in racing ... El Condor Pasa, show them the absolute." These lines come from Yuji Nohira, the real Symboli Rudolf trainer's comment, "There is no absolute in horseracing, but Symboli Rudolf has it."
• In Episode 6, at Mainichi Okan, we see a man holding◊ a full set of plushies of Team Spica horsegirls. Plushies of real horses are made and sold in Japan; since all of the Spica members' originals were very famous award-winning horses, they all have plushies. For reference, here's one of Spe and another of Vodka.
• In Episode 7, Trainer gets the girls to run to a hotel that has a hot spring bath. It turns out that the pictured hotel is real, called Tashuroya (Google Street View link), at the Nasu onsen (hot spring). However, the distance between Fuchi racecourse, to which Tracen is close, and Nasu onsen is about 180 km - so if this is canon, the girls, through half a day (starting at 3pm), have covered considerably more ground than a typical day of horse riding (when done without changing horses). Of course, unlike riding horses, they did not carry riders, but the stamina appears quite impressive.
• That swimming pool at Tracen? A real feature of both JRA training centers. Yes, they have heated swimming pools for horses. (If you wonder what they are for, you can enjoy a relaxing video of a swimming Thoroughbred, though not in Japan.)
  • And here's another video, this time from Ritto training center in Japan. (The horse in this particular video is quite popular on her own, so maybe one might see her in the series in a few years?)
  • Here's one of Hishi Miracle's pool training. Miracle got the horsegirl treatment about two years after the game's release, and judging from his reaction in the video, it looks like his horsegirl equivalent is doomed to kickboard hell.
• While not as severe as depicted in the Anime, the track Satsuki Sho is run on does have a significant climb before the finish.
• At Satsuki Sho 1998, Seiun Sky needed a push◊ to get into the starting gate (then proceeded to win the race). The horsegirl also gets a guy pushing her, complete with the original yellow safety hat.
• The training match between Taiki Shuttle and Special Week was conducted on a uphill course covered in Woodchip where Special Week relaxed on afterwards. Both JRA training centers have a similar course and both are covered in the same material.
• Episode 9:
  • The Spica girls swim in the ocean - keeping their heads out of the water all the time, just like horses.
  • When Broye chases El Condor Pasa in the home stretch, every horse girl watching television shouts, "Broye comes(ブロワイエが来た)!" It is a reference to announcer Naoki Fujita shouting "Montjeu comes(モンジューが来た)" several times in Radio Tanpa broadcasting of the real race. See 2:44 of the linked video to hear it.
• In Episode 10 Special Week is shown pulling a large tire with Gold Ship sitting on it. Except for the tire form of the sled, this is a real Japanese horse sport called ban'ei. (The tire form might be a Continuity Nod to the trailer, where the girls are shown pulling normal-size tires; note that tires of this huge size really do exist, they are for haul trucks).
• Episode 13:
  • This episode was released on Father's Day and suitably includes a moving scene between Symboli Rudolf and Tokai Teio, with Symboli very happy that Teio has grown up to challenge her.
  • Fuji Kiseki sees Symboli Rudolf and Narita Brian and thinks she doesn't want to be defeated by Triple Crown winners. IRL, Fuji Kiseki was expected to win the Triple Crown but retired after the Yayoi Sho due to injury, earning the nickname "Phantom Triple Crown Winner."
  • The unnamed Horse Girl seen during the Season 1 finale is based on Kitasan Black, the 2017 Horse of the Year that just retired. He is the nephew of Special Week and Silence Suzuka. One major redesign later, she would show up in various appearances in Season 2.

Season 2

• Episode 1:
  • Symboli Rudolf wins the Japanese Derby and shows a V sign to the crowd. Yukio Okabe, the real Symboli Rudolf's jockey used finger-counting to show fans how many they had won G1 races whenever they won G1, excluding the 1985 Arima Kinen.
  • Air Groove getting scared by a flash camera reflects how her real counterpart got scared by a multitude of these at the Shuka Sho paddock, costing her the win.
  • Rio Natal and Cedar Blade are based on Leo Durban and Shako Grade. That's why they feel something from Maruzensky and Mr. C.B. respectively. In real life, the two are their sires.
  • After Tokai Teio wins the Japanese Derby, Minami and Masuo say, "Teio may go beyond the emperor" and "To my regret, the genius exists," respectively. Their lines came from the 36th JRA Hero Retsuden and the 2011 Japanese Derby advertisement.
• Episode 2:
  • The peace sign◊ Teio did after the race was a reference to the peace sign Teio’s jockey Takayuki Yasuda did after the race. This sign meant Teio had just won his second G1 victory.
  • The poster Teio had in her room was a reference to the 17th JRA Hero Retsuden◊ featuring Symboli Rudolf.
• Episode 3:
  • Twin Turbo was a popular horse is to reflect that in real life, the horse in question needs to be voted to be able to participate in the Arima Kinen.
  • The old man standing beside Gold Ship is his real-life counterpart's groom Takatoshi Imanami◊.
• Episode 4:
  • The Horse Girl stalking Bourbon is Rice Shower. Rice Shower’s jockey Hitoshi Matoba was known by fans as the 'cold blooded hitman' which is probably why Rice is stalking Bourbon. Matoba is also the main jockey for Grass Wonder.
  • The lines that McQueen and Teio said in the interview were actual lines said by their jockeys Take (McQueen) and Okabe (Teio).
  • The old lady in the Mejiro house could either or possibly be Mejiro Asama the first gray haired horse to win the Tennosho and also McQueen's grandfather, or Miya Kitano the owner of McQueen and the Mejiro farm. She was well known by fans as 'the Mejiro Grandma'.
• Episode 5:
  • Mejiro Palmer, despite being a member of Mejiro family, does not seem to have much interaction with other family members. The Mejiro's did not cheer for him either. This reflects the historical fact that Mejiro Group and fans at the time looked down on Mejiro Palmer because his performance had been underwhelming.
  • Mejiro Palmer was known for running with his head raised, that’s why you see his anime counterpart running in an up-right position.
• Episode 6:
  • Tokai Teio's second fracture is based on the real stallion's second injury which happened after the 1992 Spring Tenno-sho G1. His third injury came after the 1992 Arima Kinen, this time with a hurting left gluteus medius muscle.
  • Rice Shower's cold reception upon beating Mihono Bourbon is indeed something that happened after the real life race, citing that he "got in Mihono Bourbon's way".
• Episode 7:
  • Expanding on what happened earlier, Rice Shower's cold reception which some even booed him is indeed what happened in real life. He was even given the unflattering title of "Black Assassin" later on.
  • The real-life Mihono Bourbon suffered from endless sickness after the Kikkasho and had to retire, and even more unfortunately the trainer died of cancer. This is why there wasn't anymore races featuring her.
  • This scene showed that Rice Shower have stiff joints, which was a handicap inherited from his father - Real Shadai. This contributed to Rice’s tragic real-life fate later on. In contrast, Teio had very flexible joints, let’s why he could perform the famous Teio-step.
  • For more character references, here is a massive list of them in this episode alone.
• Episode 8:
  • Rice's glowing eyes is a reference to the JRA commercial promoting the 2012 Spring Tennosho.
  • Grass Wonder says she has a special connection with Rice because they shared the same jockey. The jockey's name was Hitoshi Matoba and he was well known for marking targets and sticking close to them until finally beating them in the last stretch. This earned him the nickname "hitman" and is also another reason why Rice was called the Black Assassin.
  • Ikuno Dictus was the one who cheered McQueen up after the race. This is because Dictus was McQueen's first mating partner which earned her the nickname by fans, "McQueen's wife". They even had a daughter together!
  • It is mentioned that Rice Shower broke the record, but what's more: not only Rice, but also Mejiro McQueen and Mejiro Palmer who broke the record.
  • In the preparation for Tennoshou, Rice Shower went through extremely hard training that the trainer described Rice "it's even not belonging to 'animal'". So that's why Rice Shower had lots of special effects.
    "What a beast, an incredible creature. When you approach him you can almost see fire bursting out from it. I am a bit terrified, like what I am about to ride is not a horse, but something superior. If I did not please him I probably would get a finger or toe bitten off." - Matoba Hitoshi, Rice Shower's jockey
  • Twin Turbo declared that she will win against Rice, that's true, since Rice only did well in long distance races, and Twin Turbo's highlight period used to win over many G1 horses.
  • Grass Wonder took part in the celebrating dinner of Spica, because Grass Wonder and Special Week lived in the same farm after retirement. There is a very subtle reference to the real Special Week not liking Grass Wonder much in that she closes the lid of the rice cooker before Grass Wonder can take her food out of it.
• Episode 10:
  • Twin Turbo is a front runner but unlike normal front runners which try to control the race pace as slow as possible to be able to save enough stamina to outrun the rest in the last stretch, Turbo would try to run at full speed from beginning till the end. This was due to the real-life Twin Turbo being a very cowardly horse disliking being surrounded by other horses. Secondly, it is due to being thin and small, so that the only choice for it is to be a front runner, otherwise it has no competitive edge in acceleration compared to its strong opponents.
  • Rice Shower did well in long distance races over 3000m, however it wasn't good at races less than 3000m. That was one of the significant reasons why no buyers accepted Rice as a stallion, leading to its eventual death and at the racecourse at the 1995 Takarazuka Kinen in an attempt to get a good rank.
• Episode 11:
  • Biwa Hayahide also gets angry at being called having a big head due to the actual horse having a larger head than other horses. This was made popular with fans when a television commentator once said “I’m surprised by his big face” and also saying that having a big face would be maybe useful to win, if a race comes down to the video reviews.
  • Tokai Teio calling Twin Turbo "Shisho" aka "Master" is a reference to what fans used to call the latter. Although Turbo didn't win much he was popular for his running style, making him chosen for the Arima Kinen twice.
• Episode 12:
  • Mejiro McQueen's injury is based on a ligament injury the real horse suffered during training while running on a wood chip course just 4 days before the autumn Tenno Sho, resulting in the real life horse's end as a racer. This is considered a Career-Ending Injury for horses as there is no known cure for it, forcing many horses into early retirement.
• Episode 13:
  • The cheering for Tokai Teio after she won was indeed what happened in real life.

Video Game

• Whenever Eishin Flash wins a G1 race, she kneels to you (or the camera). It is a reference to the 2012 Fall Tenno Sho. After the race Mirco Demuro, the real Eishin Flash's jockey dismounted the horse and kneeled to Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko.
• Whenever Mayano Top Gun wins she throws a kiss. It is a reference to the 1995 Arima Kinen. Just after the race, Mayano Top Gun's jockey Seiki Tabara threw a kiss to the crowd. You can see it at 2:38 of the linked video.
• Some of the events in the in-game training story reflect the real ones.
  • In Maruzensky's training story, she must start from the 18th, the outermost gate at the Japanese Derby. It is based on the saying of Seiichi Nakanowatari, the real Maruzensky's jockey.
  Seiichi Nakanowatari: Let us run in the Japanese Derby. I don't care if we start from the outermost. We won't hinder other horses. I don't want prize money. I just want to see what he can.^noteIn those days, the foreign-born horse was barred from the Classics and the Tenno Sho races to protect the Japanese horse industry. Maruzensky, who was brought to Japan when he was a fetus, was treated like a foreign-born horse. Despite Nakanowatari's plea, they couldn't participate in the Derby.
  • At the Golden Ending of Mejiro Palmer's story, she received a car from a company supporting the Twinkle Series. When Palmer asks her trainer what they should name their car, the trainer answers, "Palmer." IRL, his jockey Taisei Yamada received an ɛ̃fini MS-8 as an additional prize of the 1992 Arima Kinen and named it so.
  • At the beginning of Tokai Teio's story, she jumps over a fence. It is based on a story about the real one's talent.
  • In Taiki Shuttle's story, it must rain at the senior Yasuda Kinen. It is a reference to the 1998 Yasuda Kinen.
• If your horsegirl meets certain requirements in a certain race, the commentator says the special commentary. Most of them are based on real ones.
• Some of the support cards are based on real events.
  • Symboli Rudolf's SSR guts card is based on the action done by Yukio Okabe, her real-life counterpart's jockey after the 1984 Satsuki Sho. Okabe raised his index finger, declaring it would be just the first one of their G1 victories.
  • Bamboo Memory's SSR power card shows her being chased by Oguri Cap coming from the inside. It is a reference to the 1989 Mile Championship.
  • Narita Top Road's SSR card shows her being chased by TM Opera O. The flavor text describes they run over distances of 3,000m and "the most indefatigable becomes the strongest that day." It is a clear reference to the 1999 Kikka Sho and the famous phrase about the Japanese Classic races "The fastest wins the Satsuki Sho, the luckiest wins the Derby, and the strongest wins the Kikka Sho."
  • Jungle Pocket's SSR card shows her shouting at the sky as her real-life counterpart did just after the 2001 Japanese Derby.
  • Nakayama Festa's SSR card portrays Festa waiting for the race behind the stage while another horse girl is on the stage, waving her hand to the crowd. The flavor text hints the girl on the stage is the most voted and they believe she will be the winner. But Festa doesn't agree with them. It is a reference to the 2010 Takarazuka Kinen. In this race, Festa's popularity was only 8th. And he won the race.
  • Satono Diamond's SSR stamina card portrays her edging out Kitasan Black. It is a reference to the 2016 Arima Kinen.
  • Kitasan Black's SSR card portrays her being chased by Satono Diamond at the home stretch. In the flavor text, Kitasan thinks she won't lose this time. It is a reference to the 2017 Spring Tenno Sho when Kitasan avenged the 2016 Arima Kinen.
• Some of the nameless horsegirls are references to real-life horses. These include:
  • The horsegirl from Curren Chan’s story, who won the Oaks but missed the Triple Tiara. She is assumed to represent Buena Vista, who raced around the same era, and won the first two legs of Triple Tiara but lost on the third.
  • The brown horsegirl from Smart Falcon’s story, who finished at the last place in a turf G1 race and will be racing in Japan Dirt Derby. She is assumed to represent Success Brocken, who run at the Japanese Derby after winning four dirt races in a row, and finished at the last place. He then was raced at Japan Dirt Derby, and won.
  • The horsegirl who won the NHK Mile Cup bearing the number 4 and was excluded from the Fall Tenno Sho, from Agnes Digital’s story. She is assumed to represent Kurofune, who won the NHK Mile Cup bearing the number 4, but was unable to enter the 2001 Fall Tenno Sho as he hadn’t accumulated enough prize money to make it into the race.
  • The chestnut horsegirl who behaves like a complete Jerkass towards Kawakami Princess in the latter's story at least until being defeated. She is assumed to represent either Admire Kiss (being the same age as real!Kawakami, she was the most betted-for horse in each leg of the Triple Tiara - except that she never lived up to the expectations and would ultimately meet a tragic demise after a fatal injury) or Fusaichi Pandora (also same age, placed second to real!Kawakami at the Oaks)
  • Also in Kawakami Princess' training event this time, the dark bay horsegirl with a gold-pink ear decoration and an appearance of a magical girl. She is assumed to represent TM Precure - no points for guessing the inspiration for the name - a Hanshin Juvenile Fillies winner who indeed raced with a gold-pink mask (with some green added)◊.^note As explained in Kawakami Princess' character page, while the owner would probably greenlight her becoming an "official" horsegirl as he did with TM Opera O, this isn't likely to happen - Toei is just THAT protective of their trademarks.
  • Back to Agnes Digital, the featureless newcomer horsegirl she goes to cheer on. Debut in Hanshin? Win dedicated to an elder sibling who retired the previous year? Doesn't that remind you of a certain Deep Impact? (In that case, the elder sibling is Lady Blond, real!Deep's elder half-sister.) The following scene has Digi-tan watch another race in Nakayama, which most likely is based on the 2005 Yayoi Sho, where Deep and his then-rival, Admire Japan, were fighting for the win right until the very end.
    • And in the scene after that, Digi-tan visits Ohi racecourse where she cheers on a horsegirl who kept leading the pack but ultimately finished 4th. Most likely candidate for the prototype race would be 2004 Japan Dirt Derby, the horse in question being then-undefeated Adjudi Mitsuo. He would win Tokyo Daishoten later that year.
  • A horsegirl of overseas origin was briefly mentioned by spectators right before Yasuda Kinen in King Halo's story. She is assumed to represent Fairy King Prawn of Australian origin, who raced and won said race. King Halo himself took third place.
  • In Kitasan Black's training story, one of her frequent rivals is an apparently-generic horsegirl by the name of Brusquement. Brusquement's stats and skills are clearly on par with the main named horsegirls, leading fans to believe that she represents Duramente, a well-known rival of the real Kitasan Black. Brusquement also suffers from injury which makes her unable to participate at Kikka Sho, returns a year later to race at Takarazuka Kinen, but had to retire after another injury in that race. it's basically what happened to RL Duramente.
  • In Sakura Chiyono O's training story, a horse girl, who broke the record in a 1,600m race, wins the URA Award for Best Junior Horsegirl with 127 votes. She represents Soccer Boy, the winner of the JRA Award for Best Two-Year-Old Colt in 1987.
• The Make a new track!! scenario compensates for lack of events present in other scenarios with own special events. Quite a few of them have IRL backdrop:
  • One event features Daiwa Scarlet and Eishin Flash going on an umbrella date and cheering on one their juniors. In fact, their IRL counterparts have mated - guess what is the name of their kid?
  • Another event features Sweep Tosho and Nishino Flower getting some fortune telling basing on their tails. Sweep is said to have a "very quirky partner" in the future - this may very likely refer to IRL Sweep's jockey, Ikezoe Kenichi, who very frequently is assigned very badly-tempered horses. On the other hand, Flower is said to have a "very kind partner" in the future - IRL Flower's jockey was Kawachi Hiroshi, who was known for his sportsmanship (he was, in fact, awarded the JRA Fair Play award 11 times)
• Tanino Gimlet the horse breaks a lot of fences, so horsegirl Gimlet does as well. She also uses "ore" as a personal pronoun, like Vodka, who was the real Gimlet's daughter.
  • You would think that Gimlet's character design received an eyepatch because the real horse has been wearing one, but it's really a case of Accidentally-Correct Writing. Gimlet (the horsegirl) was given the eyepatch in May 2022 because it looked cool, and it was only later on (August 2022) that Gimlet (the horse) suffered an eye infection and had to wear an eye cover. This also explains why their patches are on different eyes.
• As with the anime, the game's version of Tracen Academy has a swimming pool; in the game, pool training builds stamina. Amusingly, the animations for pool training have two different versions, based on whether the real horse liked or disliked swimming. In the "dislike" version, the horsegirl has to use a kickboard to stay afloat, and - especially in the Level 3 "Backstroke" version of the training - wears a profoundly unamused expression. Here's a video showcasing the different kickboard animations.

Other media (including Umayon manga and anime)

• Episode 4 of Umayon features a musical play that is a very obvious spoof of your average Takarazuka Revue performance. (The IRL Takarazuka Kinen frequently features Takarasiennes giving out the prizes etc.)
  • Also pay attention to the staircase TM Opera O descends off at the beginning of her "I Am" Song (also a very distinct 'Zuka thing). It has seven stairs, reflecting real!Opera's G1 win count - and yes, Takarazuka Kinen is among them.
• Episode 6 of Umayon has two very specific references combined:
  • McQueen and co. visiting a gyudon restaurant may be a reference to a variety show segment where Take Yutaka, who had never been at a gyudon restaurant before, was invited to one.
  • The fact that Ines Fujin is here, however, points out to a more horrifying reference (TW: suicide): when real!Ines Fujin's owner was nearing bankruptcy after the bubble economy collapsed, he and his two other near-bankrupt friends committed suicide in a hotel room. Gyudon was their last meal.
• The tractor pulling a harrow in volume #1 of Cinderella Gray is the New Holland T6, one used at the real Kasamatsu racecourse. The tractor is infamous for having been operated during a normal race.

Shout Out to other media

• The French horsegirl Broye, seen racing El Condor Pasa in Episode 9, bears a strong resemblance to Oscar from The Rose of Versailles.
• The real Air Shakur is named after Tupac Shakur, and her in-game training events after winning certain races reference his songs. Winning the Arima Kinen gets you "All Eyez On Me", autumn Tenno Sho "Ambitionz" (az a Ridah), Takarazuka Kinen "Can't C Me", and spring Tenno Sho (Put Your) "Hands Up". Her laptop even sports a sticker with a stylized "All Eyez On Me".
  • Her skills reference rappers as well. The evolved form of her second unique skill is "Lose Myself", and a negative skill she gets from losing horribly is "99 Problems".
• Episode 9 contains a possible reference to Episode 9 of the original Neon Genesis Evangelion series. (Might just be a similar visual gag, though).
• Team N's introduction poses in the BNW OVA are shout-outs to the Kamen Rider, with Gold Ship imitating #1 pose, Agnes Tachyon imitating W/Double, and starting from 1:10, the members did (from left to right) the poses of Build, Den-O, Kabuto, and BLACK. Image comparison.
• Mihono Bourbon's unique skill name is a reference towards Mobile Suit Gundam 00.
• Season 2, Episode 2 contains a Title Drop for a completely different anime:

Vodka: How heavy are the dumbbells you lift, Teio?

• In the game, one of Hishi Amazon's win pose is similar to Kamen Rider Amazon.
• Season 2, Episode 11
  • When Tokai Teio investigates rivals she dresses like Shunsaku Kudo from the TV series Tantei Monogatari.
  • Biwa Hayahide goes on about the effectiveness of decarbonated cola as a drink, like in the first episode of Baki the Grappler.
• A Running Gag in the anime is horse girls performing wrestling moves. Most of them being McQueen doing ones from Kinnikuman on the Trainer.
  • In season 1 episode 7, McQueen doles out Warsman's Palo Special.
  • In episode 8, McQueen does Terryman's Spinning Toe Hold, modeled after Terry Funk's.
  • In episode 14, McQueen performs Ramenman's Romero Special, going back to Rito Romero.
  • In season 2 episode 1, McQueen and Goldship together deliver Neptuneman and Big the Budo's Crossbomber.
  • In episode 3, McQueen does Robin Mask's Tower Bridge.
  • In episode 9, Ikuno continues McQueen's trend of elegant characters doing the most ridiculous moves by dragging Twin Turbo away in the setup position for a Kinniku Buster.
• Entire Episode 6 of Umayuru is a parody of detective fiction. In this episode, four horse girls dress like famous Japanese detective characters: Tokai Teio as Conan Edogawa from Case Closed, Matikanefukukitaru as Ninzaburo Furuhata from Furuhata Ninzaburo, Agnes Tachyon as Manabu Yukawa from Galileo, Mejiro McQueen as Ukyo Sugishita from Aibou: Tokyo Detective Duo.
• Episode 9 of Umayuru is a parody of Initial D. Note Happy Meek's competition number is 86.