American Umamusume OC Stuff

“Not second, I’m upgrade! ...No me gusta hablar inglés más de lo necesario. Se me da bien, pero prefiero mi lengua materna. De todos modos, ¡correré y ganaré, sin importar si la pista es de césped o de tierra!”

“Ok, Digital, stay calm. Your kamioshi from America called for you specifically to teach her to run on turf, and her teammates as well, so keep it together. Never mind the Chilean baddie standing in front of you who also happens to be thirteen-time winner and three-time G1 winner Cougar II. Stay focused on that ass- er, the ASSIGNED TASK, and turn your oshi into a turf champion! …Oh, who am I kidding, MY HEART CAN’T TAKE IT I’M GONNA EXPLODE AAAAAAAAGHASDKJGBBSADHJLKG-”

“¡Maldición, esta perra está loca!”

I’ve been meaning to draw Cougar II ever since I first researched Secretariat, since they ran in a race together. Horses that can run on both turf and dirt are rare, and only four individual characters in the JP server have an A rank in both. With Cougar having those aptitudes, it reminded me of Agnes Digital, of whom Secretariat was the grandsire of. Since Digitan is from America, I wanted to draw her as well, so I thought of a scenario in which the American Umamusume needed to learn to run on turf before they visited Tracen for a cultural exchange festival, or something. I figured the two of them would be the best teachers for the job.

When Cougar was very young, her family traveled from their home in Santiago to see the Fiesta de la Tirana, held at the town of La Tirana in the Tarapacá Region of Chile. Seeing the parade of costumed dancers perform for the Virgen del Carmen captivated the young Umamusume, and she was especially entranced by the devil dancers, dressed in bright reds and golds with elaborate masks. The cultural context and history behind the death of Ñusta Huillac was lost on the six-year-old Cougar, and as she watched the procession she could only come to one conclusion: “The devil is so cool!” Even after being gently chastised by her family, Cougar still couldn’t get the costumes out of her head. As the years went on, Cougar also developed a love for racing, and was among the top five in her class in her hometown’s racing school. A trainer visiting from America noticed her talent and scouted her, and it was arranged for Cougar to transfer to Lexington Academy in Kentucky, residing in Claiborne Dormitory. It was here that she designed her signature racewear, using the same reds and golds that had captivated her long ago. Since an Umamusume named Cougar had already attended Lexington in the past, Cougar raced under the name ‘Cougar II,” and incorporated the numeral into her brand. She was not a copy, but an upgrade, the newest and best iteration of the Cougar name. Cougar II made waves in the American racing world by performing equally well on both turf and dirt, a rarity in the States especially due to the comparative lack of turf races. Not only did she claim many victories, Cougar II also knew how to work a crowd, and quickly gathered loyal fans who were always excited to see the Big Cat run. Despite her success abroad, Cougar II hasn’t forgotten where she came from, and always makes time to visit Santiago over holidays and breaks during the semester. Many Umamusume of Latin-American descent found her love for her homeland inspiring, and racers like El Condor Pasa and Mucho Macho Man would cite her as an Umamusume they looked up to when they were young. Cougar II’s career would eventually wind down, and she’d announce her engagement, with the fiance/fiancee’s identity remaining unknown despite dedicated efforts by fans to track them down. Since Cougar doesn’t wear her mask in public, she Clark-Kent’s her way through normal life and disguises her lover’s identity by proxy. She plans to tie the knot when she retires, but until then Cougar II still attends Lexington Academy. Students often come to her for advice about running on turf or dirt, and her friend and dorm-mate Sham has asked her to help Team Polaris train on turf in preparation for the upcoming Tracen Academy Cultural Exchange field trip. Cougar agreed to lend a hand, and is curious about fellow all-rounder Agnes Digital’s turf-training style as well.

Anyone familiar with Agnes Digital knows that her home and heart are in Japan, full stop. However, that’s not to say she hates returning to her birth country, far from it. Digital enjoys seeing extended family (for a bit) and catching up with old friends. But what she likes the most about visiting Kentucky is getting to be an American Uma Simp for a while. Digitan loves visiting local conventions and fan-meetups around the Lexington area, and eagerly posts her translated fics from the past year on UmAO3 for American readers. Finally, since she’s a Tracen Academy student, Agnes Digital is allowed to use the Lexington Academy campus for training, since Director May Howard wants to encourage fair competition between foreign racers for events like the Kentucky Derby or the Breeders’ Cup. In practice, this means Digitan can observe Umas she doesn’t normally get to see, including her American Kamioshi, Secretariat. Agnes Digital’s middle school friend Chancey Squaw was mentored by Secretariat, and Digitan got to meet her using that connection. Secretariat was impressed by Digital’s skill and track record, and keeps in contact with her, although she doesn’t always understand her fangirl/online behavior. For her part, Digitan is over the moon that an Umamusume of such prestige considers her worth talking to, and she practically worships the ground she walks on. It’s for this reason that Digital jumped at the chance to help Secretariat and her team train on turf, so she can get closer to her kamioshi and other strong Umamusume.

Obviously, Cougar II’s racewear is inspired by the devil costumes from the Fiesta de la Tirana in Chile. I initially thought Cougar was from Brazil, and wanted to do a Carnival outfit. When I realized my mistake, I sought out different inspiration, although the final outfit does evoke Carnival to an extent. (Cougar is Brazilian on her father’s side, and she’s gone to Carnival, but didn’t like it as much as the festival in Chile.) I also leaned really hard into the cougar/big cat theming, like the symbols on the side-skirts, and I put the “II” numeral in various places as well. The lighting in the photo of the real horse I used made Cougar II look blue in some parts, so I incorporated that into the Umamusume version’s hair and costume. For Digital, I just drew her casual outfit. (She left her bag and bracelet at home because they were too annoying to draw.) I chose to give Cougar wide hips, because I haven’t drawn a character with those proportions yet, and because it meshed well with Digitan being in the picture, since she is a known ‘caboose’ appreciator, as King Halo can personally attest to. Finally, I made Cougar have immense national pride as a character trait, since you don’t hear about many Chilean horses in the US, and also to compensate for me thinking she was going to be Brazilian at first. Brazil and Chile are two different places.

With that, Cougar II is finished. Hopefully the pictures don’t look too blurry. Next on my to-do list is a profile and revamp for a personal favorite of mine, Pvt. Smiles. I’ve actually tracked down the daughter of the trainer of the real-life horse on Facebook, but I’ve been too shy to ask questions so far. Not sure how I would even begin with that direct message. After Smiley,  I’ll draw Ghostzapper next.

*All of the Spanish was translated with DeepL. If there are better ways to say these phrases, please let me know.*

"I don't need your help. I've been on my own my whole damn life, I'm an expert at this shit. No trainer is gonna turn my life into some feel-good underdog story. Three of your pals have already tried, I'm not someone you can fix. So piss off; I don't need a team, I don't need friends, and I don't need you."

Remember when I said I would draw Cougar II? I LIED! HAH! In actuality, I wanted to do a quick drawing of Zippy Chippy, but it turned into something bigger than I expected. I've been wanting to make profiles for my Uma OCs that don't have them yet, so here's one for Zippy Chippy. The bio is the same as the old one, so I'll reblog that or something. Speaking of, it was interesting to see how I've grown as an artist, comparing this drawing to the old one. I still have a long way to go, but visible progress feels good. However, drawing Zippy Chippy again made me realize I don't understand anatomy as well as I'd like. I think I'm using the 3D models as a crutch, and I'd like to use them less. Now I'll be drawing Cougar II for real this time. That's about it, see ya.

“RAAAAAAAAAGH! I won’t quit! Not yet, not now! I’ll claw my way back onto the track, past mistakes be damned! Don’t even think of holding back just ‘cause of these scars! Either give me a challenge, or get out of my way!”

I was originally planning on drawing Cougar II, but I asked my younger sibling what sort of Umamusume I should draw next, and they requested a goth one. Ruffian isn’t exactly goth, but she’s pretty close, so she moved up the list. I’ve also been wanting to do something with Silence Suzuka, since in both the anime and the game she goes to race in America after the Autumn Tenno Sho. I noticed her situation was similar to Ruffian’s and so figured I’d draw them together.

From the moment of her debut, it was clear Ruffian was no ordinary Umamusume. She won her first-ever race by fifteen lengths, and tied the track record of 1:03. From there, Ruffian continued to win every race she participated in, and lived up to her name with her berserker-level determination. Ruffian was a monster on the racecourse, with a front-running style that reflected her drive to reach the finish line as soon as possible. With several wins under her belt, Ruffian and her trainer turned their attention to the Triple Tiara races in New York. Ruffian proceeded to win with ease, making her the fourth-ever Umamusume to hold the title of American Triple Tiara Champion. With ten races and ten wins, the racing world had their eyes on her, with some claiming she could eclipse Secretariat in sheer racing aptitude. To capitalize on this newfound fame, a match race was set between Ruffian and that year’s Kentucky Derby winner, Foolish Pleasure. Her trainer was hesitant to enter Ruffian in the match race, not wanting to put too much pressure on her, but felt obligated to with all of the media coverage. Ruffian herself agreed to the race, and looked forward to the challenge. However, as the “Great Match” drew near, the stress and expectations began to weigh on her. She didn’t want to disappoint her fans, having done so once before when she had to withdraw from the Frizette Stakes due to a fever, nor did she want to throw away her perfect win-loss record.

All of that built to the day of the match race, when, shortly after the gates opened, Ruffian was startled by a bird near the racetrack and took a bad step, snapping her right leg. Through sheer adrenaline, Ruffian tried to keep running, slamming her damaged leg into the ground and breaking it further, eventually crawling towards the finish line before racecourse officials were able to stop her and get her onto a stretcher. Ruffian’s troubles would not end there, either, as the lack of understanding of the differences between human and Umamusume physiology at the time led to her coming out of anesthesia early during the surgery, causing her to thrash from the pain and undo the progress made on her leg. Doctors got her under again, and the twelve-hour operation ended with Ruffian forced to use a wheelchair and, later, a cane. Traumatized from the experience, she retired from racing, and ended up seeing a guidance counselor for a time to address her depression and heightened ornithophobia. Her crash made national news, and inspired subsequent medical advances that allowed hospitals to better understand and care for Umamusume. Official match races were also banned by Lexington officials. Ruffian was able to live a functional life eventually, but deep down she still wishes she could race like she used to instead of just aimlessly bouncing between temporary pleasures.

A renowned front-runner hailing from Japan, Silence Suzuka attended Tracen Academy while undertaking the Twinkle Series of races. During this time, she sustained a broken leg during the Autumn Tenno Sho, and medical professionals believed her racing days were over. With the help of her trainer and her teammates, however, Suzuka was able to run once more and win her comeback race. After a little while, Silence Suzuka traveled to America to compete in races there, staying in Kentucky with Devil’s Bag, a retired American Umamusume and the mother of Suzuka’s friend and rival, Taiki Shuttle. During a scheduled physical therapy evaluation of her once-injured leg, Silence Suzuka encountered Ruffian, who had an appointment at the same time. In the waiting room, Ruffian’s past hospital trauma caused her to freeze up, and Ruffian’s former guidance counselor called on Suzuka and her own trainee, Zippy Chippy, to help her walk Ruffian to the room of her appointment and provide encouragement. Suzuka remembered this when she ran into Ruffian again while running, and decided to help her overcome her injury, like her own teammates did for her. Ruffian eventually agreed to start training again with Suzuka as her rival, and while she knows Ruffian will never run exactly like she used to, Silence Suzuka hopes she can give her the courage to chase the view from the lead once more.

Drawing Suzuka was fairly easy. I just stuck her in the Tracen tracksuit, since that’s presumably what she’d wear while training, and it’s reasonable that she’d bring it with her overseas. For Ruffian’s racewear, I really just followed design elements as they appeared in my head, with spikes, chains, and black fabrics, whatever I thought of to get the stereotypical goth/punk vibe.  I gave the colors red and white a slight presence in the outfit, since those are the colors of her jockey silks, and I tried to make her scars look like they came from someone with the strength of a horse slamming their broken leg into the ground multiple times in a row. The in-universe reason her right leg doesn’t have a sock is because Ruffian doesn’t like the feeling of her scars being covered, after being stuck in a cast for months.

Over the course of researching these horses, a common thread that pops up is laminitis, and how it’s basically a death sentence for horses once it gets bad enough. So imagine my surprise when, in the process of researching American Pharoah, I learned about Paynter, also owned by Zayat Stables, who was diagnosed with laminitis and survived. I thought that was neat, and that would make an interesting Umamusume story. Since laminitis is a leg/hoof injury, and Umamusume leg injuries don’t mean death the same way they do for horses, I think Paynter’s disease would be some terminal illness, like cancer. I’m not going to confirm the specific illness, since I don’t want to trigger anyone, but the character’s hair is short because of the treatment process, so interpret that as you will.

The Paynter at the beginning of her career was very different to the Paynter of today. She was energetic and opinionated, with a combative streak when it came to training. She did well in her first year of racing, winning the Haskell Invitational, and with all the other Triple Crown race-winning Umamusume scheduled to retire, Paynter had a real shot at Umamusume of the Year if she kept on winning

Then the diagnosis came.

From that moment onward, Paynter believed that her career and her life were over. The illness was terminal, and she was prepared to give up and wait for the end. But her roommate, American Pharoah, didn’t want to lose her friend so easily. Pharoah approached her childhood friend and heir to Zayat Holdings, Littleprincessemma, who in turn begged her grandfather to fund experimental treatments Paynter and her family couldn’t afford. Moved by Paynter’s plight, her grandfather agreed, and Paynter's treatment began. It was an arduous process, and over its course Paynter would lose a lot of weight and all of her hair. Meanwhile, Zayat Holdings’s commitment to the health and well-being of its sponsored racers made national news, and racing fans young and old across the United States made posters, wrote get-well cards, and otherwise kept their eyes on Paynter’s recovery. Moved by all the support she was getting, Paynter resolved to endure and come out of the treatments stronger, and slowly but surely she recovered. After a period of remission, the doctors officially declared Paynter disease-free, to the joy of her family, friends, and fans. After she was discharged, Paynter was at a loss for what to do, now that she could experience the tomorrows she thought she’d never see. No one would blame her for retiring, but Paynter wanted to give back to the fans who had supported her at her lowest point. As a result, she and her trainer announced a return to the sport, to the shock and delight of the racing world. Paynter is, of course, anxious about running again. Gone is the Umamusume from before, and in her place now stands a quiet yet fiercely determined racer. While Paynter fears she won’t be able to match her pre-diagnosis results, her perseverance far outstrips any worries she may have about running once again.

I had the idea of Paynter in my head ever since I worked on American Pharoah. The glasses, beret, and sclera-less eyes were all elements I wanted to include from the get-go, and I was heavily inspired by Lotte from Little Witch Academia, a show I saw my younger sibling watch. This does mean that her racewear has less of an overall theme than others. I wanted to evoke a stereotypical artist outfit, with added elements to indicate she wears this while running. Like American Pharoah, Paynter wears the neon-yellow and blue Zayat branding, and the bandana is tied to different legs depending on what direction the race she’s running turns. In universe, Paynter’s old racewear was a lot flashier, but since it no longer fits her, she simply requested ‘something comfortable’ for her return.

I’m honestly surprised at how quickly I finished the drawing this time. I wonder if that means I’m finally refining my process. I definitely need to work on thinner lineart, though. Next up is another Umamusume with a troubled medical history, Ruffian, along with one of her new friends from across the sea.

“It doesn’t matter what the precedent is. It doesn’t matter who I might be up against.  As soon as cleats hit the dirt, it’s up to fate. And I might just be fated to exceed your every expectation.”

When I was working on Zenyatta, her Wikipedia article made reference to Rachel Alexandra. It said that the latter narrowly beat out the former in votes for 2009’s Horse of the Year Award. Attempts were made to have the two of them race, but for one reason or another, no such race occurred. Intrigued by all this, I did some more research on Rachel Alexandra, and found that she was every bit on Zenyatta’s level. She was even the first filly to win the Preakness Stakes in 85 years. I wanted a foil to Zenyatta, and who better than a horse with a comparable race record, winning streak, and fanbase.

To an outsider, Rachel Alexandra might seem like just another heir to a wealthy racing family, with her fine clothes and distant, detached behavior. In actuality, this assessment couldn’t be further from her true self. Rachel takes the sport very seriously, and her behavior is simply a reflection of those ideals. Even as a child growing up in a middle-class suburb, she was a believer in ‘dressing for the job you want.’ Rachel Alexandra knew she wanted to be a racer, and knew there cultural expectations on how racing Umamusume are to act. To that end, she began a life of politeness and professionalism, and along with sheer talent and dedication persevered in passing the Lexington Academy entrance exam. Upon assignment, her trainer realized she didn’t need to be as involved in Rachel’s training, compared to other racers. Rachel Alexandra operates primarily on instinct, relying on the feel of the track beneath her feet and the pace of the runners around her to decide her strategy. This has pushed her trainer into more of an advisory role, helping Rachel maintain her health and form while acting as a consultant on what race she should run next, with Rachel ultimately having the final say. She wants to be a runner who breaks records in races no one ever expected her to run in, and she and her trainer work together to make those races happen. The interesting thing about Rachel Alexandra’s dedication to racing, however, is that it’s left little room in her head for anything else. Her roommate and best friend Zenyatta has described Rachel as being airheaded, but there’s not any room for air in there. If the task isn’t related to racing, Rachel Alexandra either takes forever to do it, does it wrong, misunderstands what it is she has to do, or some combination thereof. It is for this reason that she doesn’t manage Team Altair, despite being one of its founding members. That said, even if she messes up sometimes, Rachel Alexandra continues to charm and impress with her pure-hearted dedication.

When I first heard Rachel Alexandra’s name, I thought it sounded like the name of a proper lady. With that in mind, I designed the racewear after something a rich girl might wear on a trip to the countryside in a 20th century period piece, complete with hat and parasol. While her jockey primarily wore yellow and dark-red racewear, I picked the colors after the less common white, green, and orange silks. On the silver border of her dress, I made a lace pattern with the letters ‘R’ and ‘A’ that I was quite proud of. To complete the image, I put her hair in braids and arranged her bangs to mimic the real horses ‘upside-down exclamation point’ - shaped blaze.

“Don’t stand so close to me, darling, lest my beauty and brawn blow you away! I’ll dominate the track and dazzle onstage!”

It’s been a while since I’ve designed a new Umamusume OC, and looking at the ones I’ve done so far, I realized I haven’t done one based on a mare. I settled on Zenyatta, given her 19-win streak beating out Eclipse, her sheer size compared to even stallions, and her habit of ‘dancing’ just before races. There was enough personality there that I felt I could turn into a character.

Zenyatta is, first and foremost, an entertainer. With her parents being producers on many iconic albums, Zenyatta grew up with music all around her, and this unsurprisingly led to a lifelong interest in dance. She started practicing as soon as she was old enough to attend classes, and kept it up even after her athletic aptitude became apparent. As soon as she debuted, Zenyatta quickly gained a massive following with her pre-race dance flourishes and her showy personality, charming fans and fellow racers alike. To her, talking herself up and showing off is her entertaining her audience, not self-aggrandizement. Zenyatta also isn’t all flash and no substance, either. When she races, she dominates the competition with an exciting end-closer style that hypes up spectators with close finishes, using her height and raw strength to push through the pack. Zentatta resides in the newly-christened Lane’s End Dorm, rooming with her friend and rival-in-popularity Rachel Alexandra. The two’s racing schedules don’t line up at all, so they can freely discuss strategies without them being used against each other. They’re also both a part of Team Altair within Lexington Academy’s team races. Zenyatta leads by example, doing her best to inspire and encourage her teammates. So far the only thing that has ever thrown her off her groove is learning that her favorite band, the Police, broke up because the members all hated each other. This sent her into a deep depression, and she refused to leave her room for a week straight, drinking way more Guiness than usual (while still observing the legal limit for Umamusume.) Nothing ever gets Zenyatta down for long, though, and she’ll continue to put on a show for as long as she can.

Zenyatta took a lot of thinking at first, but once I did my research. the pieces started to fall into place. The real horse was named for the Police’s third studio album, Zenyatta Mondatta, since her owners produced the album. When I was figuring out her racewear colors, along with the jockey colors, I took the colors from the album cover, using those warmer tones as highlights against the cyan and pink. Her eyes are actually a miniature recreation of the cover, with the same colors in the same places. I made her dress take inspiration from a French cancan dancer. The Police used plenty of French words in their album titles, and the ruffles really stuck out to me as a good way to add detail. I included blue triangles as a motif, once again as a reference to the album cover. I made her skin darker for more variety, and her hair color comes from the actual horse, with the blonde tips implying that she once dyed it blond to be like Sting and his bandmates.

I can’t keep up…

I match her pace, but she’s still accelerating. It’s taking everything I have to keep from falling behind.

And the pain in my shin is getting harder to ignore.

“Secretariat is widening now! She is moving like a tremendous machine!”

I’m at my limit now. If I push myself any harder I’ll break. Slowly I’m overtaken by Prince, Gallant, and Smiles as the ache in my leg overtakes my thoughts.

Why did this happen today!? Why now!? Maybe I wasn’t meant to win, but I wasn't even a challenge!

We promised we’d give it our all!

I promised I’d give it my all…

Hello everyone, here are a few OC trainers I had ideas for. I drew them to be simpler in design to not overshadow their trainees.

James T. Pierce: A 31-year-old with a nicotine addiction, James T. Pierce has trained many Umamusume over the years, and his experience has left him surprised by little in the current day. He tends to be low-energy in both speech and mannerisms, not helped by him staying up incredibly late working on his miniature WWI diorama against his wife’s advice. Overall, Pierce has a deadpan demeanor and is prone to making understated sarcastic remarks that his trainees often don’t get at first. Regardless, he still manages to be a reliable trainer, but his latest trainee Onion is his complete opposite. Onion has low self-esteem and isn’t sure what she wants to do with her career, something that Pierce feels gives him little to work with. Nevertheless, he’s committed to helping her be the best racer she can be, even if it doesn’t look like it.

Felicia Monteiro: Felica Montero graduated from Lexington Academy’s trainer course, but chose a different path after her stepsister suffered a career-ending accident during a race. Using her knowledge as a licensed trainer, Felicia became a social worker specializing in Umamusume mental health. Notably, she provided counseling for Ruffian after the Umamusume’s famous accident at Belmont Park and subsequent botched surgery, and continued to provide counseling for many others. After Zippy Chippy enrolled at Lexington Academy, the dean requested the now-28 Felicia Montero to return in a training capacity, as no other trainer could handle working with the troubled Umamusume. She has a friendly and outgoing personality, leading Zip to be initially dismissive and hostile towards her. However, Felicia also refuses to take crap from anyone, and that combined with her willingness to engage with her on her own terms has slowly begun earning Zippy Chippy’s respect.

Matt Schüler: Matt Schüler, the newly-minted trainer of Pvt. Smiles, happens to be an extraordinarily handsome 17-year-old prodigy who was fast-tracked through the trainer course, gaining the admiration of fellow trainers and Umamusume alike. Some attribute Matt’s early graduation to his being a descendant of a well-known Japanese Umamusume trainer family, but his mother having been disowned by them proves his skills are indeed legitimate, though the outdated copy of the Kiryuin Trainer’s Handbook definitely helped. What Matt Schüler lacks is experience, and so it was recommended he take on Pvt. Smiles as his first trainee, due to her relaxed temperament and cheerful disposition. The two get along extremely well, possibly because they’re the same age. Matt appreciates that Smiley doesn’t really care what he looks like, since he’s tired of the joke/stereotype of Umamusume only racing to find hot trainers. With his charisma and intelligence, Matt Schüler hopes to show the world his skills as a trainer and Pvt. Smiles’s potential as a racer.

I don’t have as much to say about their designs, since they’re humans rather than Umamusume. For Pierce, I wanted his design and personality to heavily contrast Onion’s, for potentially funny character interactions. Felicia’s design just popped into my head from nowhere, but her name is just a gender-swapped Brazillianified version of the real horse’s trainer. I tried to draw Matt as handsomely as I could, as I want to deconstruct the idea of Trainer x Uma pairings and how that would realistically play out, and so I needed him to actually be attractive instead of just a T-head. I also based his hair, eyes, and skin color off of Aoi Kiryuin.

“The Grand Slam races aren’t a goal, but an inevitability. I’ll do everything I need to, overcome every obstacle, and knock them out of the park.”

I apologize for disappearing for longer than I usually do. I think it was the holidays plus design difficulties/distractions when it came to American Pharoah. I don’t think I have to introduce the real horse too much. American Pharoah was a stallion who won many races, most notably being the first in thirty-seven years to win the American Triple Crown in 2015, as well as the first to win the Grand Slam of Thoroughbred Racing since Whirlaway in 1941. Hearing about a title more prestigious than the Triple Crown piqued my interest, and I knew I had to do American Pharoah after I finished the first five Umamusume I had planned.

Years ago, two Umamusume were assigned seats next to each other in their kindergarten class. Their names were Littleprincessemma and American Pharoah. That was all it took for them to become best friends, and that friendship remained as they both grew into aspiring racers. The cool and collected Pharoah had spent her childhood attending Major League baseball games to watch her father play, and this indirectly led her to discover Whirlaway, the first ever Umamusume to win the Grand Slam of Umamusume Racing, which at that time was the American Triple Crown plus the Travers Stakes. However, the rules had changed in the years since Whirlaway’s accomplishment, and the Travers Stakes had since been replaced with the Breeders Cup Classic. No Umamusume had ever won the Grand Slam after this change, and American Pharoah decided she would be the first. Littleprincessemma was supportive of her friend’s goal, and knew just how to help. After all, her grandfather happened to be the head of the Zayat Holdings Umamusume talent agency. (Such organizations are unique to the United States due to its sheer size and population distribution. A unified racing organization like Japan’s URA would be a pipe dream at best, and Lexington Academy is the closest thing to it in America.) Zayat scouting American Pharoah based on Littleprincessemma’s recommendation drew accusations of nepotism at first, but Pharoah’s tryout times quickly shut them down. The talent agency cooperated with Lexington Academy to facilitate her training at both campuses, with Pharoah using her time at Lexington for her non-athletic studies and after-school activities. She joined Team Polaris after wondering what motivated Secretariat to do so, and is often confused by her teammates’ shenanigans. American Pharoah seems outwardly stoic due to her quiet, professional attitude towards racing. She’s not totally unflappable, though, as loud sounds really bother her. As a result, Pharoah wears ear-covers specifically designed to reduce noise. In addition, her racewear originally had her wearing a hood as a part of its design, but she found the reduced peripheral vision hampered her ability to focus, and so she now keeps it down. All in all, American Pharoah works hard to make herself the best racer she can be, because deep down she fears what will happen should she fail her lifelong goal and the uncertainty of what she would do next should she achieve it. In the meantime, though, Pharoah is happy to train with Team Polaris. Just don’t bring up the rumor that she bit the former Vice President.

For starters, I knew I didn’t want to just dress her up as a pharaoh and call it a day. After all, she’s an American Pharoah, and I wanted the outfit to reflect both parts of her name, as well as Ahmed Zayat’s Egyptian-American heritage. Finally, I wanted to draw an Umamusume with dark skin, since logically speaking the United States would have more of those demographically. American Pharoah’s jacket was a nightmare. I wanted to draw a varsity jacket to evoke the baseball theme, but I had never drawn anything like one before, and its bulk really threw me off. Beneath the jacket I modeled the top and shorts after the Egyptian usehk collar and shendyt skirt respectively. Then, I gave Pharoah black socks to reference the real horse’s legs, and white Stacy Adams Pharaoh Cap Toe Oxford shoes, which absolutely no one will get just by looking. Also, if you look at the jacket’s sleeve on her right arm, you will find the logo of the MLUB (Major League Umamusume Baseball) which shows a horsegirl hitting the ball instead. Finally, I hunted down the fonts to make the profile look like it would in the game, and I stole from Adobe to do it!

“I run how I want, bitch! If you don’t have chips or booze don’t fucking talk to me.”

I imagine most American horse-racing fans are familiar with Zippy Chippy. In short, he was Haru Urara before Haru Urara existed, with 100 starts and zero first-place finishes. The horse was also somewhat temperamental, apparently picking people up by the collar and refusing to let them down, as well as getting banned at a racecourse for refusing to leave the starting gate on multiple occasions. Zippy Chippy was passed between a few owners, with his latest and final one trading a Ford truck for him to save him from the slaughterhouse. Finally, Zippy Chippy enjoyed popcorn, beer, and Doritos, which I didn’t know horses could have until now. I knew I had to draw him as an Umamusume, and I couldn’t get the idea of an evil Haru Urara out of my head.

Zippy Chippy hasn’t had a conventional upbringing. Shortly after she was born, her biological mother surrendered her to the Old Friends Foster Care Center, where she spent much of her childhood. The end goal for Zip was to find her a proper family, of course, but she quickly gained a reputation as a difficult child growing up, with her either running away or foster parents relinquishing her after Zip proved too much to handle. Without a proper parental figure in her life, Zippy Chippy became something of a delinquent, being loud and combative while cursing excessively. She would often skip school, forcing her to repeat a couple years, and gained a taste for beer* and Doritos. Basically, anything adults would balk at a teenager doing, she would do. This behavior unfortunately meant that Zip was still living at the care center by the time she turned seventeen, putting her in danger of aging out of the system. Since she liked running, the caretakers at Old Friends urged her to try out for Lexington Academy. Zippy Chippy made it in, but her behavior after traveling there meant no trainer wanted to scout her until school staff assigned her a trainer with a background as a social worker. Zip received permission to live in one of the trainer dorms under supervision. Later on, her trainer would volunteer her to join Team Polaris as a favor to the trainer of Onion, becoming the third member and making the team official. Since then, Zip hasn’t won any races, team or solo, but her aloof behavior has earned her a small but dedicated fandom.

Don’t ever compare her to “that pink-hair Japanese bitch.”

Obviously I used Haru Urara as a template here, primarily for the hairstyle and eyes, and the color scheme was inspired by this reddit post of a color-swapped Haru Urara and Rice Shower. I wanted to dress her like an edgy teenager while keeping the outfit simple, so I chose a T-shirt with an Umamusume skull on it paired with basic dolphin shorts and striped leggings, with shoes that aren’t even built for racing. Zip’s clothes are slightly too small, since I imagine either no one bought her new ones, or she just doesn’t care. For her personality, I didn’t want her to just be mean. I imagine her background has left Zippy Chippy feeling like no one wants her for who she is, and she’d gradually become nicer once she finds the people she belongs with. Despite her opinions on Haru Urara, the two of them would actually get along, partially because they would not recognize each other. On the other hand, King Halo would absolutely despise her. Finally, the beer and Doritos on the ground are just edited pictures from Google Images, and I based the Umamusume skull off this picture (warning, morbid.)

I have a lot more I could say about Zippy Chippy, but I’m trying to keep this short. I imagine her trainer being a genderbent Felix Monserrate, and I’ve got ideas for both Onion’s trainer and American Pharoah. I’ve also got things to say about the lore I’ve built up in my head. We’ll see what I do next.

“At ease, everyone! No need to frown when Smiley’s deployed!”

There’s a good chance many of you are asking right now, “Who the hell is Pvt. Smiles?” And that’s an incredibly valid question, because I know almost nothing about the real-life horse. The real Pvt. Smiles was one of Secretariat’s opponents in the 1973 Belmont Stakes, and finished fifth in front of Sham. The only concrete piece of information about the horse’s personality I have is from a 1973 New York Times interview. Apparently, he was relaxed just before the race, unbothered by the reporters. I wanted to draw Pvt. Smiles because I thought the name was funny after I came across it during my Secretariat research, so here we are.

Pvt. Smiles is not a particularly well-known Umamusume, which suits her just fine. Simultaneously laid-back yet energized, Smiley’s only concern is whether or not people are having a good day, whether they like it or not. The way she goes about this can vary from forming a team with Onion to get her to socialize more, to waking up the entirety of Whitney Dormitory with an early-morning rendition of Reville so that ‘everyone has more time to enjoy the day.’ While Pvt. Smiles’s methods can occasionally be disruptive, it’s hard to fault her dedication to helping people and making them happy, a trait her parents praised her for as a child. Smiley was especially close to her mother, Silver True, an Umamusume soldier who served in the United States military as a field radio operator. While present during her childhood, her mother was called back into action when Smiles was about ten. Sadly, she was killed in action, leaving her family devastated.  Pvt. Smiles still misses her mom a lot, and even themed her racewear after her, with the helmet having been a gift from a military surplus store. Smiley’s desire to make herself and everyone else happy comes from a belief that her mom wanted her to, when in actuality she made her parents happy just by virtue of being their child. Hopefully, over the course of her career, Pvt. Smiles will understand that she doesn’t need to force herself to be happy for others.