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Part 4 of 5

3\* Umas

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3* Umas

Rice Shower (Original) Ratings: Pace Chaser 2, Team Trials 5 (Long), Parent 2

Rice is a very popular uma, but not a very good one. Her unique and golds are all consistent enough for Long Team Trials though, and since she has a built-in recovery, training her for it isn’t difficult. Her bonuses can sometimes make training painful. She has Determined Descent which is good on some tracks, but the other umas with it are much better, and others can just inherit the white or get the gold from a card.

Symboli Rudolf (Original) Ratings: Late Surger 3, Team Trials 5 (Medium Late Surger), Parent 3, Speed Debuffer (-0.25)

Rudolf’s evolutions mean that her unique and both golds are perfectly consistent, making her a great option for a Medium Team Trials. Though, one of those golds is Professor, which you get from the very popular Kitasan Black Speed card. If you regularly use Kitasan, she loses value and can be considered Team Trials 4 due to having a duplicated gold. Her unique is very consistent and decently strong for Late Surgers and End Closers. She can be a good parent when Dober and/or Ryan aren’t good parents for the track, such as in Long Distance, or as a grandparent. As a Debuffer, Rudolf isn’t desirable as she can’t use her own card, which is the best card for Debuffers, so she can fill a hybrid role like Grass Wonder does. In CM she’s just average, but being around Oguri’s strength is still strong.

Mejiro McQueen (Original) Ratings: Late Surger 4, Team Trials 5 (Long Pace Chaser), Parent 3

McQueen received a bit of redemption with her evolutions, but not enough to make her generally good in CM. However, everything is consistent for Team Trials. There is a very specific strategy with McQueen as a Late Surger in CM which is fairly strong. You pair her with Urara or a similar poor performer to make her unique always trigger, and when that results in carrying speed over into the spurt, she becomes quite powerful. Her unique is also pretty good for Long, especially after it gets buffed.

Taiki Shuttle (Original) Ratings: Pace Chaser 5, Team Trials 3 (Mile Pace Chaser), Parent 5

Taiki’s unique is very strong on certain tracks, and it gives acceleration, so she’s a highly desirable parent. On tracks where she’s good, her ult is paired with Nishino Flower’s, taking up both parent slots. Because of this, if you don’t have either of them, you should consider prioritising Taiki from daily legend races. However, her unique isn’t consistent enough for Team Trials. Her golds both get better with buffs that come later, and then she becomes a strong racer in her own right, still usable today on the JP server.

Oguri Cap (Original) Ratings: Pace Chaser 3, Late Surger 3, End Closer 3, Team Trials 5 (Pace Chaser), Parent 3

Oguri is a great all-rounder uma. She’s decently strong in basically any track, and her unique can be inherited on non-Front Runners for a consistent 0.25 speed. Using Oguri is never a bad choice. In Team Trials, everything is consistent, and you can put her anywhere you need her. Of course, that’s usually Dirt, but if you have Dirt umas and lack Sprint umas, she can fill that. Her great flexibility and good strength is why she’s recommended for the initial pick ticket, even though other umas are sometimes stronger. Her heal is consistent when she’s a Pace Chaser and her acceleration skill can sometimes be used for gambling.

Maruzensky (Original) Ratings: Front Runner 2, Team Trials 5 (Mile Pace Chaser), Parent 5

Maruzensky is primarily a parent uma. For Front Runners and Pace Chasers, she’s good for Osaka Hai, Oaks, Japan Derby, and Japan Cup. These are all Medium tracks, so she herself isn’t very good on them, due to having Mile skills. On other final corner tracks, her unique typically triggers too early to do anything, but she can be inherited on Late Surgers/End Closers, who can pass into 5th to trigger it later and get the accel. On such tracks, Dober isn’t a good inherit, so she can replace Dober as a parent. In Team Trials, she has consistent skills and a consistent unique, just don’t evolve Accel Full Throttle. It requires first place when evolved, which isn’t consistent even for Front Runner. Her inherited unique is also very consistent for all styles and can be inherited on anyone in Team Trials for points.

Tokai Teio (Original) Ratings: Pace Chaser 5, Team Trials 5 (Medium Pace Chaser), Parent 3

Early on, Tokai Teio is quite weak, but the evolutions and a buff to her unique saves her. She becomes a very strong uma in Medium distance. Her winrate in competitive matchmaking rivals NY Kitasan and Christmas Oguri in some CMs. As a parent, she’s a consistent 0.25 speed. She also has strong Secret Events for winning the Triple Crown and the Spring Triple Crown.

Silence Suzuka (Original) Ratings: Front Runner 5, Team Trials 5 (Mile Front Runner), Parent 2

Suzuka is used for her Runaway ability, once that’s introduced. In Team Trials, this means she has an extra gold skill. Concentration is also a great skill in Team Trials since it gets you more good start bonuses. In CM, she’s used often, as Front Runners are frequently strong and a Runaway makes it much harder for Front Runners to win. It also serves as a way to buff your Pace Chasers. When the spurt is on the final corner, her Unrestrained skill can help her win. Her inherited unique basically only works on other Runaway and there are better options.

Special Week (Original) Ratings: Pace Chaser 4, Team Trials 5 (Pace Chaser), Parent 4

Special Week is pretty plain. After the buff she receives, her unique has accel, but it requires you to pass someone, so it’s hard to trigger early enough to be good. However, the Current Speed aspect of it means you’ll always be getting a benefit. You can inherit it on backline umas. Everything is consistent for a Team Trials Pace Chaser.

TM Opera O (Original) Ratings: Pace Chaser 4+, Team Trials 5 (Medium Pace Chaser), Parent 2

Early on, Opera’s unique is very hard to trigger, but it gets buffed later. Opera has a heap of consistent skills for Team Trials. In CM, she can be strong when the spurt starts after the final corner starts and both of her evolutions are great. Her unique and Speed Star both trigger on the final corner. If they give her carryover, she’s strong. Tracks that fit this are Tennosho Autumn and, later, Longchamp 2400m. Also keep in mind her Fall Triple Crown secret event both years, which gives all stats up and is affected by Race Bonus.

Mihono Bourbon (Original) Ratings: Front 2, Team Trials 5 (Medium Front Runner), Parent 3

Bourbon is outclassed by many Front Runners in a CM context, but in Team Trials, her skills are pretty consistent. You’d want to get Concentration on her to improve her unique’s consistency, or at least Focus. Her unique won’t trigger if she has a bad start, and Concentration prevents those. Having a Medium Distance Recovery built in makes her easy to train. Her Valentine’s alt is arguably the strongest generic Front Runner uma, so look forward to that if you’re a Bourbon fan.

Biwa Hayahide (Original) Ratings: Pace Chaser 2, Team Trials 5 (Long Pace Chaser), Parent 2~3

Biwa’s similar to Super Creek. She has an insane amount of recovery, almost three golds worth with both her evolutions, and everything is consistent for Team Trials. However, she has nothing exciting in her kit for CM except maybe carryover on her unique in Tennosho Fall.

Mejiro McQueen (Anime) Ratings: Front 4, Stadium 5 (Long Front/Pace), Parent 2

Bird McQueen doesn’t really have anything going for her in CM, but at least she’s consistent in Stadium and has a heal for Long. She’s outclassed when her unique carries over and can’t compete in Long CMs against the meta Pace Chasers or Fronts until her buffs which come much later. Though, after those buffs, she is quite strong.

Tokai Teio (Anime) Ratings: Pace 3, Stadium 5 (Medium Pace), Parent 3

Red Teio is a little better than OG Oguri, but has nothing to make her exceptional. Everything is consistent for Stadium and her unique can be inherited on Pace Chasers for 0.25 speed. Two gold recoveries in Medium means you get to skimp on Stamina quite a bit. She has the same great secret events as normal Teio.

Curren Chan (Original) Ratings: Pace Chaser 4, Team Trials 5? (Sprint Pace Chaser), Parent 1, Speed Debuffer (-0.25)

Curren is a gambler in Sprints. If her unique triggers late enough to bring the accel into the spurt, she’s pretty strong. However, Sprint CMs tend to be dominated by Front Runners and End Closers, so she’s not quite meta. She’s probably good in Team Trials, her golds are consistent and her unique should trigger most of the time.

Narita Taishin (Original) Ratings: End Closer 5, Team Trials 5 (Mile End), Parent 2

Taishin is the original holder of Encroaching Shadow, one of the strongest End Closer skills. Even after other End Closers outclass her in Long, she remains meta for certain Mile tracks. However, she has a debilitating training event that lowers her mood and gives her Bad Practice that’s a pain to work around sometimes. But after that, there’s an event in Late March that gives her all stats.

Smart Falcon (Original) Ratings: Front Runner 5, Team Trials 5 (Dirt Front), Parent 2

Smart Falcon is the best Dirt uma on release, but later, is generally outclassed by Copano Rickey. Still, even after Rickey’s release, she can still hold her own. There are certain tracks where her unique can get accel during the spurt. All her skills are consistent for Team Trials. You’re likely to see Falcon or one of her alts in every Dirt CM forever. Her first alt is roughly the same strength as her. You could also raise her for Turf if you were particularly motivated, and she’s capable at that for a while.

Narita Brian (Original) Ratings: Pace/Late 3, Team Trials 5 (Pace/Late), Parent 4

Brian has very plain, consistent skills. Just an average uma. After buffs, her unique is pretty strong to inherit on non-Front umas and has some tracks where it’s particularly strong, like Hanshin 1600m.

Mayano Top Gun (Wedding) Ratings: Pace 3, Late/End 4, Team Trials 4 (Mid), Parent 4, Stamina Debuffer (-3%)

Wedding Mayano can gamble with her unique as a backliner. If she passes at the right time, and the track’s spurt starts on the final corner, she’ll get a bunch of accel. She’s also the second best option for a Stamina Debuffer after Nice Nature, as Mystifying Murmur is the best Stamina debuff. Though, it’s not consistent in Team Trials. Sometimes, she gets built as a hybrid uma, with enough stats to win but also carrying debuffs. Seeing her win in CM even as a debuffer happens surprisingly often.

Air Groove (Wedding) Ratings: Pace Chaser 4, Team Trials 5 (Mile Pace), Parent 2

Wedding Groove is a solidly strong Leader after the first anniversary buffs. When Taiki/Nishino are viable uniques to inherit for a Mile CM, Wedding Groove is one of the best ones to take advantage of them thanks to her midleg speed unique and gold. Before her buff, she’s extremely bad.

Seiun Sky (Original) Ratings: Front 2, Team Trials 2, Parent 5

Seiun Sky revolutionised Fronts with her unique. In basically every Medium and Mile track as well as some others, Fronts will want to use her as a parent. Even some Paces want her unique. However, she herself is very lacking. She doesn’t have the skills required to keep up with the other Fronts and won’t be able to use her unique. However, if Fronts are bad on a track, she can be good. In a Pace meta, Seiun is generally the only Front that can actually compete with them, as long as there aren’t any other Fronts around to ruin her day.

Hishi Amazon (Original) Ratings: End 1, Team Trials 3 (Mid End), Parent 2

Amazon’s unique isn’t consistent for Team Trials, but her golds are. Her first evolved skill can help her trigger her unique and could be good on some tracks like Tennosho Autumn. Storm and Stress is basically Heart and Soul so it’s not very desirable. Having both End Closer Corners and Straights built in is nice. But, overall, one of the worst End Closers in the game.

El Condor Pasa (Fantasy) Ratings: Late 3, Team Trials 3 (Mile Late), Parent 4

Fantasy Pasa gets accel when trying to overtake someone on the final corner. So, when the last spurt is on the final corner, she can luck into some accel. You’ll most likely want to pair her with speed skills that trigger on the final corner to trigger overtake mode, though most such skills are for Pace Chasers. Her unique can be inherited for accel purposes, but there’s generally going to be better options. Both her golds are a little inconsistent in Team Trials, especially Furious Feat, but Furious Feat can be used as another gambling skill in Mile CM.

Grass Wonder (Fantasy) Ratings: Late 2, Team Trials 5 (Long Late), Parent 4

Healer Grass is called Healer Grass because she heals. Her kit has the equivalent of more than 3 Gold heals, and with both golds being buffed on second anni, they’re all good and consistent. In CM, her lack of any other tools beyond healing makes her a poor performer, and by the time there are acceleration options in Long for Lates, Sakura Laurel is released and overshadows her. Her unique is also a 0.35 heal when inherited, which is generally one of the best options for Long Lates and Ends, as they don’t have access to Ryan and Dober on most Long tracks.

Fuji Kiseki (Original) Ratings: Pace 3, Team Trials 5 (Mile Pace), Parent 4

Fuji is basically a clone of Oguri. She has a similar unique, a Pace heal, and a gold Mile speed skill instead of a generic gold accel skill. You can use her in Mile CMs if you want. Her unique is 0.25 when inherited, making it quite good.

Gold City (Original) Ratings: Late 4, Team Trials 5, Parent 2, Speed Debuffer (-0.2)

Gold City is a gambling uma, similar to Curren Chan. If she starts trying to overtake someone late in the middle leg, her unique will trigger and let her carry accel into the spurt. You’ll want to pair her with skills that trigger around there, which vary based on the track. She can further gamble with her built-in Switch-up Pro. Her gold heal later becomes a speed debuff, but if you want a Mile speed debuffer, you’ll usually just use Grass Wonder and get that gold heal from the Gold City card. Also, note that every race you do after Tennosho Spring on Gold City will give you all stats and extra SP. This can let you get much higher SP counts, allowing you to buy a ton of skills for Team Trials.

Maruzensky (Summer) Ratings: Front 3, Team Trials 4 (Mile Front), Parent 4

Summer Maruzensky is the benchmark for Runner umas. She has a gold heal and a midleg speed unique. She used to be the best, but became outclassed with Valentines Bourbon’s release. These days, Runners usually come with either Fortune or Groundwork, while S.Maru has neither, making her difficult to raise. Her unique is good to inherit on other Runners when there aren’t two mandatory parents. In Stadium, hills in Mile aren’t always there, so her gold recovery often won’t trigger. Make sure you have a backup heal.

Special Week (Summer) Ratings: Late 4, Team Trials 5 (Mid Late), Parent 2

Summer Spe has a boring kit, but it’s overall decently strong. Both of her golds evolve into 4s duration ones, which is very good. Her unique is very easy to trigger and is a gold heal, making her easy to raise for Mid and Long. Inherited, it’s only a white heal.

Meisho Doto (Original) Ratings: Pace 4, Team Trials 5 (Mid Pace), Parent 2

Doto gets acceleration when she passes someone in the final leg or beyond. So, if she gets lucky, she can zoom. It’s not consistent though, so she’s just a gambling uma. Everything is consistent enough in Team Trials.

Eishin Flash (Original) Ratings: Late 2, Team Trials 5 (Late), Parent 2

Eishin has been bullied by recent scenarios. In Grand Live, you get Magician of the Lane for free, and in Grandmasters, you get Heart and Soul for free. She’ll often have a duplicated gold, making her less ideal for Stadium training. For CM, she has nothing special.

Matikanefukukitaru (Full Armor) Ratings: Late Surger 4, Team Trials 5 (Long Late Surger), Parent 2

Back when End Closers were the meta in Long tracks, FA Fuku had her uses. When the End Closers moved forward in mid leg, they would trigger her unique and make her run faster. Once Late Surgers are equal to or greater than End Closers in Long, this is less ideal, but she’s still quite good. Her lack of heals makes her a bit hard to train for Long as well.

Hishi Akebono (Original) Ratings: Pace Chaser 4, Team Trials 5 (Sprint Pace), Parent 2

Akebono is a solid Sprint Pace Chaser. Her unique is a mid leg speed unique if you don’t do anything special, which is pretty good. You can stack Stamina on her to make her unique trigger later and get the acceleration from it into the spurt, but it takes like 1000 Stamina with heals to do that. Generally it’s not worth it, but it’s a fun meme strategy.

Agnes Digital (Original) Ratings: Late Surger 5, Team Trials 5, Stadium 5 (Dirt Late Surger), Parent 4

If Digital was on the initial ticket, she’d be the one to pick instead of Oguri. She has the flexibility to go either Turf or Dirt, is strong everywhere, and on many tracks, she’s extremely strong and makes it into the top 5 of umas for that track. Her unique is best when the spurt starts before the final corner, but the final corner starts shortly after. Umas spread out on the final corner, and her unique has lane movement speed. When you’re moving side to side with a lane movement speed buff active, you get +0.5 speed. So, you want her to use her unique before the spreading happens to have it active while spreading. It can also be inherited for other backlines on tracks where it works. Her Front Row gold is a good gambling skill for Dirt and everything is consistent. She’s a priority pick in Daily Legend Races.