Gold Ship is a menace. If you’ve played Uma Musume: Pretty Derby, you know exactly what I’m talking about. She’s the eccentric, drop-kicking long-distance runner who will either carry your entire team to victory or decide to come in 15th place because she felt like it. Building her is a rite of passage.
Most people mess this up. They see those long-distance races and think, "Okay, I just need a ton of Stamina." Wrong. Well, partially wrong. If you want to know how to build Gold Ship Uma Musume so she actually wins consistently in the CM (Champions Meeting) or even just high-level Arena play, you have to embrace the chaos of her kit while grounding it in some very specific math.
She’s a Chaser (Oikomi). That’s her identity. You can try to force her into a Betweener role, but honestly, why would you? You’re robbing her of her biggest strength: that massive, surging burst in the final leg of the race.
Why Gold Ship is the Queen of the Back of the Pack
Her unique skill, Nami-noro-nu-u! (or the "Wave-riding Great Plan"), is weirdly specific. It triggers in the middle of the race and boosts her speed and positioning. This is her engine. Without a high level on this unique, she’s just a girl in a swimsuit with a weird attitude.
The biggest mistake? Ignoring Intelligence (Wise).
Since she’s a Chaser, she spends most of the race staring at the backs of other horses. If her Intelligence is too low, she won’t trigger her skills. She’ll get stuck in a "block," unable to find a lane to pass. I’ve seen 1200 Stamina Gold Ships lose to mid-tier builds simply because they didn't have the "brain" to move outside when the final corner hit.
You need to aim for a balance. It’s not just about raw power. It’s about the "Gate." If she misses the start—which she does often because of her hidden personality traits in the game logic—she needs that Intelligence to recover her pacing without burning through her Stamina pool too early.
The Stats That Actually Matter (And the Ones That Don't)
Let's get real about the numbers. For a Long Distance build, which is where Gold Ship shines, you are looking at a very steep uphill climb in training.
Speed is king. Never forget that. You can have all the Stamina in the world, but if your Speed cap is low, you’ll get out-kicked by a Mejiro McQueen or a Manhattan Cafe every single time. You want to hit the cap. In the current meta, whether you are running URA, Aoharu, or the newer scenarios like Grand Live or Project L'Arc, Speed should be your primary focus.
Stamina is the gatekeeper. For 3000m+ races, you need roughly 1000 to 1100 Stamina, plus at least two "Gold" recovery skills. Maestro of the Arc (from Super Creek) is non-negotiable. Don’t even try to run a long-distance Gold Ship without it. It’s the gold standard for a reason.
Power is the engine. Chasers need Power to push through the crowd. When Gold Ship decides to make her move, she needs the acceleration to go from 15th to 1st in about 200 meters. Aim for at least 900-1000.
Guts is... controversial. Look, Guts helps with the "Last Spurt" and staying in the fight during the final stretch. But don't sacrifice Speed or Stamina for it. If it happens to land around 600 through sub-stats, cool. Don't go out of your way for it unless you're doing a specific Guts-meta build, which is risky for beginners.
A Quick Breakdown of Target Stats for a Competitive Gold Ship:
- Speed: 1200+
- Stamina: 1000 (with recovery skills)
- Power: 1000+
- Guts: 600
- Intelligence: 800
Support Card Selection: Don’t Cheap Out
Your deck determines your fate. If you're F2P (Free to Play), you’re going to rely heavily on friend supports.
- Kitasan Black (Speed): The GOAT. Even years into the game's lifecycle, the raw stats and events this card provides are too good to pass up.
- Super Creek (Stamina): As mentioned, you need Maestro of the Arc. If you don't own this card, you must borrow it. Period.
- Rice Shower (Stamina/Power): Another great alternative for long-distance builds, giving you Cool-headed or helping with stamina caps.
- Fine Motion or Nice Nature (Intelligence): You need at least one high-tier Intelligence card to keep that stat from bottoming out.
I’ve found that a 3 Speed, 2 Stamina, 1 Friend (like Tazuna or Little Consent) or 1 Intelligence card setup is the most stable. If you’re feeling spicy and your inheritance is heavy on Stamina, you can swap a Stamina card for another Power card.
Speaking of inheritance...
The Secret is in the Parents
Inheritance is where 50% of your success happens before you even click "Start Training."
For Gold Ship, you want Stamina and Power factors. Since you’ll be spending most of your training turns on Speed and Intelligence (to keep your energy up), you need the inheritance pops to do the heavy lifting for your Stamina.
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Look for parents with 3-star Stamina factors. If you can get a "Long Distance" red factor to hit S-rank, you’ve basically won. An S-rank in Distance Aptitude gives a hidden modifier to your Speed during the race that exceeds the actual stat cap. That is the "secret sauce" for winning Champions Meetings.
Navigating the Gold Ship Training Events
She’s a headache. She has events that can randomly drop her motivation or give her bad status effects. It’s lore-accurate, but it’s annoying.
When the "Paka Paka" event happens, or she decides to go off on a tangent about fried yakisoba, pay attention to the choices. Usually, the bottom choice is the "safe" one that gives a small stat boost, while the top choice is a "high risk, high reward" play. If you're already behind on your Speed targets, take the risk. If you're on a "God Run," play it safe.
One thing people forget: The Gold Ship Week events. During certain times of the year (or specific scenario buffs), she gets extra bonuses. Use those windows to grind your high-score builds.
Skill Selection: What to Pick and What to Skip
Not all skills are created equal. For a Chaser like Gold Ship, you want skills that trigger in the "Back Half" of the race.
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- Straight Line Pro / Chaser Straight: Good, but positioning matters more.
- Ad Astra: If you can inherit this from a Christmas Oguri Cap or another high-tier runner, it’s great, but focus on her innate kit first.
- Inner Might (Oikomi-no-Kotsu): Essential. It helps with positioning and prevents her from being boxed in.
- Non-Stop Girl: If you can get this from a Power support card (like Yukino Bijin), it’s a game-changer for the final corner.
Avoid "Early Game" speed skills. They are useless for her. She wants to be in the back. If she moves to the front too early, she loses the "Chaser" bonus logic and her unique skill might trigger at a sub-optimal time, leaving her gassed before the finish line.
Common Pitfalls: Why Your Gold Ship Keeps Losing
"My Gold Ship has 1200 Speed and still loses to a 1000 Speed Grass Wonder!"
I hear this all the time. The reason is usually Aptitude. If your Gold Ship has a "B" or "A" in Long Distance, but your opponent has an "S," they have a massive hidden advantage. Always, always try to reach S-rank in your primary distance. It’s a flat percentage boost to your Speed stat during the final spurt.
Another reason is Positioning Skills. If she doesn't have skills that help her "lane swap," she’ll get stuck behind a slower horse and won't be able to accelerate. This is known as "being blocked," and it’s the number one killer of Chaser builds. This is why Intelligence is so vital—it dictates the AI’s pathfinding.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Run
Ready to build a monster? Follow this sequence:
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- Selection: Pick Gold Ship (obviously) and find a friend with a 9-star Stamina/Power Blue Factor and at least 3-star Long Distance Red Factor.
- Deck Check: 3 Speed cards, 2 Stamina cards (one must be Super Creek), 1 Intelligence card.
- Early Game (Junior Year): Focus on building bonds. Don’t worry about the stats too much yet. Get those support card bars to orange as fast as possible so you can start getting Rainbow Training.
- Mid Game (Classic Year): Aim for the "Maestro of the Arc" gold skill before the Arima Kinen. If you don't have it by then, you might fail the race.
- End Game (Senior Year): This is where you polish. If your Stamina is at 800, stop training it and go all-in on Speed and Power. Use the Summer Camp to fix whatever stat is lagging.
- Final Polish: Spend your Skill Points (Pt) on "Distance" and "Chaser" specific skills. Ignore the generic ones unless you have points to burn.
Gold Ship is a gamble, but when she works, she’s the most dominant force in the game. Just keep an eye on her. She’s probably planning to drop-kick the trainer the moment the race is over anyway.
Focus on the S-rank distance aptitude and don't neglect her brain (Intelligence), and you'll see her standing on the winner's podium way more often.