Race Mechanics
See Target Speed for more information on the Final Leg.
Sections and Phases
Every race is divided into 24 Sections, which are further divided into four Phases. Your Uma has a Target Speed for each phase.
Opening Leg (Phase 0): Sections 1 to 4. The Start Dash happens at the beginning. Umas accelerate to the Base Target Speed. During this phase, the Speed Stat does not affect target speed and Power affects Lane Change Speed. Higher Power allows an Uma to more effectively maneuver sideways to avoid blocks or find better positioning.
Middle Leg (Phase 1): Sections 5 to 16. Umas are affected by Position Keep. The Speed Stat still does not affect target Speed.
Final Leg (Phase 2): Sections 17 to 20. If the Uma has enough HP remaining to finish the race at top Speed, she begins the "Last Spurt" acceleration immediately upon entering this phase. If she does not have enough HP, the game forces her to lower her Target Speed for the last spurt. Most "End of Race" Acceleration skills (e.g. Angling & Scheming, Let's Pump Some Iron) trigger here, at the transition from Mid to Final leg.
INFO
Your Uma does not wait for Phase 3 (Last Spurt) to start her Last Spurt Mode. If they still have enough HP, they begin accelerating immediately upon entering Phase 2. See Target Speed for more info.
- Last Spurt (Phase 3): Sections 21 to 24. Umas continue their sprint. Specific "Last Spurt" skills trigger here. If your acceleration skill triggers here, it is usually too late to be effective.
Start Dash
At the very beginning of the race, the gates open. Every Uma rolls a random number to decide how fast they react. This is called the Start Delay, which ranges from 0 to 0.1s.
- Late Start: If the number is more than 0.066 seconds, your Uma gets stuck in the gate for a moment. This is bad because they lose the initial Speed boost.
WARNING
The Wit stat does NOT affect the Start Delay roll. It is purely random (RNG). Only specific skills can mitigate this.
Specifically, 
Focus and 
Concentration decrease the start delay to avoid Late Starts by 40% and 90% respectively.
Position Keep
During the first half of the race, Umas don't run at their full Speed. They participate in a mechanic called Position Keep.
During the Position Keep portion of the race, Front Runners (including Runaways) fight to take first position in the race. Every section, they may speed up using the following modes:
Speed Up: If a Front Runner is in the lead and another Uma gets close to them, there is a chance that she will increase their speed to defend against this threat.
Overtake: If a Front Runner is not in the lead, they may increase their speed to try to catch up and overtake the lead Uma.
The other Umas try to maintain a specific distance from the leader (the Pacemaker).
Pace Up: If an Uma is too far behind their target spot, they increase velocity to catch the pack.
Pace Down: If an Uma runs too fast and gets too close to the Pacemaker too early, the game forces them to slow down. This is dangerous because it wastes time and energy.
Rushed / Rushing
During Position Keep, there is a random chance your Uma will panic. This is called Rushed, where the Uma ignores pace limits and surges forward aggressively. While Rushed, HP consumption increases by a factor of 1.6x. This massive penalty often causes Umas to run out of HP before the final spurt.
Additionally, a Rushed Uma ignores their Strategy. They will try to take a higher position, which may prevent their specific acceleration skills from activating Late-Race, guaranteeing a loss even if they survive the HP drain.
TIP
High Wit 
reduces the probability of Rushing.
Every 3 seconds while Rushed, the Uma has a 55 percent chance to be cured. The maximum duration of Rushed is 12 seconds, unless extended by a relevant debuff.
For more details, see Debuff Skills.
"Lucky Pacemaker"
If a race contains no Front Runners, the Position Keep logic must select a new reference point.
The game will force the furthest forward Pace Chaser to act as the Pacemaker. If no Pace Chasers exist, the system will select the furthest forward Late Surger, followed by the furthest forward End Closer. Because of this, “Lucky Pacemaker” is a misnomer: Umas with higher Power and early-race Skills such as 
Groundwork and 
Uma Stan will consistently secure the Pacemaker position.
The new Pacemaker of the lobby receives a large advantage over the other Umas. First of all, the Pacemaker is no longer affected by the original Position Keeping mechanics of their Style. The other Umas enter Pace Down Mode until they are within a Style-specific distance away from the Pacemaker. Because the Pacemaker is also a Style with higher Speed Modifiers than Front Runners, they can have an advantage in the late-race compared to a Front Runner.
Course Variables
Uphill and Downhill
Uphills: Power
helps maintain velocity during uphills.Downhills: High Wit
increases the chance to enter "Downhill Mode." If this happens, HP consumption is reduced by 60% and a Target Speed bonus is gained while on the slope. On tracks with long downhills like Kyoto, Wit contributes greatly to mid-race velocity.
Track Conditions
There are four states based on the weather: Firm, Good, Soft, and Heavy.
Speed Penalty: If the track is Heavy, all Umas suffer a 50 Speed penalty.
Power Penalty:
Turf: Anything other than Firm reduces Power by 50.
Dirt: Firm, Soft, and Heavy reduce Power by 100, while Good condition only reduces it by 50.
Stamina Drain: On Soft or Heavy tracks, your Uma burns roughly 2% more HP per second.
HP
Stamina
Stamina 
determines your HP.
Every meter you run burns HP. If your Uma runs out before the finish line, their Speed drops drastically, and they will likely lose. If your Uma does not have sufficient HP in the Final Leg, she will delay her final acceleration. Always make sure your Umamusume has enough Stamina for the Track.
Guts
Guts 
serves the following functions:
- Higher Guts directly reduces HP consumption during the Final Leg and Last Spurt phases. If you run out of HP, your Uma drops to their Minimum Speed. High Guts keeps this floor higher, preventing a total standstill.
- Specifically for Front Runners and Runaways, if two Umas compete for the lead position early in the race, they enter a "Spot Struggle". High Guts is required to win this interaction and secure the lead.
WARNING
This burns massive amounts of HP. Front Runners burn 1.4x HP, Runaways burn 3.5x HP.
Spot Struggle speed and duration both scale with Guts.
TIP
These strategies do not interact with each other.
i.e. Front Runners only struggle with Front Runners, and Runaways only struggle with Runaways.
- High Guts increases speed & acceleration gained during Dueling, which occurs between two Umas when they are:
- In the final straight
- Within 3 meters of each other
- Similar velocities (within 0.6 m/s of each other)
If all of the above happens for 2 seconds, they enter a Duel.
WARNING
Umas must have at least 15% HP remaining to activate Dueling.
If HP falls below 5%, the mode ends immediately.
- In the Late-Race and Last Spurt phases, the Guts stat is added to the Base Target Speed. Therefore, an Uma with 1200 Speed / 800 Guts effectively has a higher top speed cap than an Uma with 1200 Speed / 600 Guts. The full formula is provided below:
Wit
Beyond navigating Downhills and preventing "Rushed", Wit can help in other ways.
Skill Activation Rate
Most skills** must pass a check to see if it triggers. At 300 Wit, skills fail roughly 30% of the time. At 1200 Wit, Skills fail only 7.5% of the time. The formula is as follows:
**Except an Uma’s inherent Unique Skill, and all Green skills outside of Lucky Seven, Super Lucky Seven, and Seven Heavenly Fortunes
Random Section Speed Target
A random speed modifier is added each section of the race. This value increases with the Wit Stat.
Current Speed
Current Speed is the speed your Uma is running at, during the current point in time. It is distinct from Target Speed, which is the speed your Uma aims to maintain.
Target Speed ⚠️
Target Speed is the speed an Uma is trying to reach during any Phase.
See Target Speed.
INFO
Target Speed is too complicated to fit into this subsection.
Style (Running Strategy)
Understanding Styles is necessary to utilize Accel Zones correctly.
Late Surgers and End Closers conserve energy in the back of the pack. They have the highest top-speed multipliers in the Last Spurt but require specific acceleration skills that trigger in the Final Leg or Last Spurt to catch up (e.g., Let's Pump Some Iron or Encroaching Shadow).
Pace Chasers follow the Pacemaker closely. They have worse Stamina to HP conversion than other styles.
Front Runners sprint early to take a lead position. They need acceleration skills at the start of the race (e.g., Groundwork). Front Runners can Spot Struggle, burning 1.4x HP consumption and leading to higher Stamina requirements.
Runaways are an extreme version of Front Runner. They sprint immediately at the start to build a massive lead, even faster than Front Runners. Runaways burn more HP than any other style, slightly more than Pace Chasers. If two Runaways are in the same race, they enter a worse Spot Struggle than Front Runners, burning massive amounts of HP (3.5x HP consumption) to fight for the lead.
Accel Zones
Acceleration is how fast you can go from your current Speed to your top Speed.
When the race switches from the Middle Leg to the Last Spurt, your Uma needs to Speed up instantly. The exact moment the race enters the Final Leg is the "Accel Zone." You want to use Acceleration Skills that activate upon entering this zone.
If they activate too early in the Middle Leg, or too late when you’re already at Top Speed, they’re wasted SP. You must know where this phase change happens on your specific track. Acceleration is the most important factor for winning close races. You can have high top Speed, but if it takes you 10 seconds to reach it, the race might be over by then.
For more info on Accel Zones, see Racecourse Analysis.
Distance, Surface, and Style Aptitudes
Aptitudes act as multipliers to certain stats.
Distance Aptitude
| Distance Aptitude | Target Speed Multiplier | Acceleration Multiplier |
|---|---|---|
| S | 1.05 | 1.0 |
| A | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| B | 0.9 | 1.0 |
| C | 0.8 | 1.0 |
| D | 0.6 | 1.0 |
| E | 0.4 | 0.6 |
| F | 0.2 | 0.5 |
| G | 0.1 | 0.4 |
A 5% permanent Speed bonus is massive. Distance S is often considered a requirement for PvP events like Champions Meeting. Because Distance S is a modifier on Target Speed, it is effectively equivalent to 10% Speed Stat. Distance Aptitudes below D also negatively affect acceleration.
Surface Aptitude
| Surface Aptitude (Turf/Dirt) | Power/Acceleration Multiplier |
|---|---|
| S | 1.05 |
| A | 1.0 |
| B | 0.9 |
| C | 0.8 |
| D | 0.7 |
| E | 0.5 |
| F | 0.3 |
| G | 0.1 |
On short tracks or tracks with short final straights, Surface S helps you reach top speed faster.
On Sprint Tracks, Surface S is generally prioritized over even Distance S.
Style Aptitude
| Style Aptitude | Wit Multiplier |
|---|---|
| S | 1.1 |
| A | 1.0 |
| B | 0.85 |
| C | 0.75 |
| D | 0.6 |
| E | 0.4 |
| F | 0.2 |
| G | 0.1 |
DANGER
The Style Aptitude multiplier notably does NOT change the Skill Activation Wit Check.
It is used for midgame position checks related to Wit. Front Runners benefit the most from Style S, but it is generally the least desired S aptitude.