Haru Urara

Haru Urara, a bay mare, was foaled on February 27, 1996, on Nobuta Bokujo,^[1] Utafue, Mitsuishi, Hokkaido. She was sired by Nippo Teio [ja], a top-class racehorse whose wins included the Autumn Tenno Sho and the Yasuda Kinen.^[4] Unable to find a buyer, the farm began training her as a racehorse.

At her debut on November 17, 1998, at the Kōchi Racetrack, Haru Urara lost, placing fifth –and last.^[5] Over the next four-and-a-half years, she would compete once or twice every month without winning.^[6]

In June 2003, after garnering her 80th consecutive loss, the story was picked up by the national Japanese media, making "Haru Urara" a household name.^[6] She quickly became very popular in Japan, and was called "the shining star of losers everywhere" (負け組の星, makegumi no hoshi), for continuing to run, despite her losing streak.^[7] This surge in popularity was dubbed "The Haru Urara Boom",^[8] and news about Haru Urara reached the international community.^[9]

During the boom, Haru Urara betting tickets began to be used as o-mamori, particularly for protection against traffic accidents: the word ataranai (当たらない) in Japanese can mean both "to lose a bet" and "to avoid being struck", so it was said that a Haru Urara betting ticket could protect the owner's car from being hit.^[10] In September 2003, the Kōchi Prefecture Horse Racing Association introduced a service wherein they would stamp the word on any betting ticket related to Haru Urara. O-mamori were also created from mane and tail hairs that were said to have fallen out during brushing, but production was soon halted, due to concerns expressed by animal welfare groups.^[11] They were instead replaced with wooden plaques.^[12]

At a race held on March 22, 2004, during the peak of her popularity, more than 13,000 spectators packed the Kochi Racetrack,^[13] 3,000 of whom had gathered outside before the gates opened, forcing the track to open 30 minutes earlier than scheduled.^[14] Some people waited in line for up to five hours to buy tickets at the "Haru Urara Commemorative Ticket Booth", which was established especially for the event.^[9] Fans bet a grand total of ¥121,751,200 on a Haru Urara victory, an impressive sum, particularly for a horse that had not won once in more than 100 attempts.^[15] Despite being ridden by Japan's premier jockey, Yutaka Take, Haru Urara earned her 106th consecutive loss, placing 10th among 11 horses running.^[16]

Her name means "Glorious Spring" or "Gentle Spring".^[5][17] Numerous products using Haru Urara's name or image have been produced, including stuffed toys, key rings, mobile phone straps, stickers, stamps, train tickets, rice, shochu, hats, T-shirts, and bras. A number of books and songs, as well as a film, were also written about Haru Urara during the boom period.^[14] The Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said "I'd like to see Haru Urara win, even just once. The horse is a good example of not giving up in the face of defeat."^[5]

Haru Urara ran her last race in August 2004 and retired with a record of 0 wins and 113 losses.^[18]

The following racing form is based on information available on JBIS search^[19] and netkeiba.com.^[20]

Originally, it was announced that Haru Urara would be returned from Tochigi where she was recuperating for a retirement race scheduled in March 2005.^[21] However, her return was soon postponed^[22] before officially being classified as retired by the NAR in October 2006, never returning to Kochi.^[23][24] Post retirement, there were plans to have her breed with Deep Impact as well as Stay Gold but those never materialized.^[25][26][27] Once those plans fell through, she was transported by her owner at the time in 2013 to the Matha Farm in Onjuku, Chiba Prefecture, where she lived until her death.^[28][29] At Matha Farm, Haru Urara became a minor PR character in 2018 when she was featured in a traffic safety poster of the Kisarazu Police Station.^{[30][31][32][27]}

On May 18, 2019, Haru Urara ran in the first "Soft Girls' Gathering", a time trial race for older horses with a GIII distance of 16.00 seconds. During her run, she achieved a time of 16.54 seconds and was put into first place, achieving victory and marking this as her very first win.^[33]

On September 8, 2025, Haru Urara became unwell and a veterinarian was called in. Haru Urara's condition only worsened overnight, and she died at Matha Farm, shortly after dawn on September 9 while surrounded by staff members. The cause was reported to be colic.^{[18][34][35][36][37]}

An anthropomorphized version of Haru Urara appears as a character in the Japanese multimedia franchise Umamusume: Pretty Derby, voiced by Yukina Shuto^[38][39]. She is depicted as a petite, cheerful rose pink-haired girl who loves the simple thrill of racing, and never gives up despite of how often she ends up losing her races. Fans subsequently came to visit the real-life Haru Urara at Matha Farm.^[27][40]

In July 2025, a tweet telling readers about a website where they could donate ryegrass to her went viral, and resulted in the website receiving so many contributions that it temporarily went offline.^[41][42]

Biffy Clyro's 2021 album The Myth of the Happily Ever After features a track inspired by Haru Urara, sharing her name, written about optimism and joy in the face of failure.^[43]

After 39 losing tournaments in a row, sumo wrestler Morikawa was given the ring name Moriurara [ja] by his coach, then ironically achieving his first winning record in his next tournament.^[44][45]

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In 2016, The Shining Star of Losers Everywhere^[46] an American documentary short film focusing on Haru Urara,^[47][48] was released. It was directed by Mickey Duzyj^[46] and has a runtime of 19 minutes.^[46] In Japan, it was screened in October 2016 at Kōchi University and Kochi Racecourse.^[47][48] The Japanese title given for the screening was "The Star of Losers, Haru Urara" (負け組の星、ハルウララ).^[47][48]

In 2026, a 15-minute musical based on the story of Haru Urara won the inaugural Making it Happen festival at The Theater Center in New York.^[49] The show was written by Ethan Riordan and Jeff Kasanoff.

Through Northern Dancer, Haru Urara was a descendant of extremely influential sires Native Dancer and Nearco.^[51]

• List of racehorses
• Maiden race § Famous maiden horses
• Quixall Crossett – British Thoroughbred racehorse
• Underdog – Competitor who is expected to lose
• Zippy Chippy – American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse (1991–2022)