Let's be real for a second. There is nothing more soul-crushing in Uma Musume Pretty Derby than watching your favorite horse girl lead the pack for 2,800 meters only to see her suddenly turn into a literal snail during the final stretch. You've spent hours on a training run. You've hit the Rainbow training nodes. You thought you were ready for the Tenno Sho (Spring) or the Arima Kinen. Then? Disaster.
Long-distance racing in this game is a different beast entirely. It isn't like the Mile or Medium tracks where you can just stack Speed and hope for the best. If you try that here, you're going to lose. Every. Single. Time. This uma musume long distance guide is here to break down exactly why your girls are failing and how to actually build a stayer that doesn't just finish the race, but dominates it.
The Stamina Threshold Is Non-Negotiable
Stop ignoring the blue bar. Seriously. In shorter races, Stamina is a secondary concern, but in anything over 2,500 meters, it becomes the literal floor of your performance. If you don't hit the minimum Stamina requirement, your Speed stat doesn't even matter. You could have 1,200 Speed, but if you run out of juice at the 3/4 mark, your girl will enter a "tired" state where her max velocity is capped significantly.
So, what is the magic number? For a 3,000m+ race like the Kikuka Sho or the Tenno Sho (Spring), you’re looking at a bare minimum of 800 to 900 Stamina. And that’s just the raw stat. If you aren't supplementing that with gold recovery skills—the "blue" skills—you’re still gambling with your win rate.
Gold Recovery Skills: The Secret Sauce
You've probably seen Maestro of the Arc (obtained from the Super Creek SSR) or Cool Down. These aren't just "nice to have." They are mandatory. One gold recovery skill is roughly equivalent to 150-200 points of raw Stamina. If you’re running a long-distance build, you basically need at least one gold recovery skill, and ideally two if your raw Stamina is hovering around the 800 mark.
But don't just grab any blue skill. Some of them have terrible triggers. Wait and See, for example, can be finicky depending on your positioning. You want skills that trigger reliably in the middle of the race to ensure the tank stays full before the final burst.
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The Speed-Stamina Paradox
Here is where it gets tricky. You need Stamina to survive, but Speed is still what wins the race. This creates a massive tension in your training sessions. You only have so many turns. If you spend every turn on the Stamina tile, your Speed will be 600, and you’ll get out-kicked by a girl who had just enough Stamina but 1,000 Speed.
It's about finding the "Goldilocks" zone. Most high-level players aim for a 1:1 ratio or a slight bias toward Speed once the Stamina threshold is met. If you're hitting 1,000 Speed, you better have 900 Stamina and a gold heal. If you're pushing 1,200 Speed, you're going to need even more recovery or 1,000+ Stamina. It’s a balancing act that usually requires high-tier Support Cards like Rice Shower (Power) or Super Creek (Stamina) to pull off effectively.
Why Guts Actually Matters Now
For a long time, the English-speaking community treated the Guts (Root) stat like a meme. It was the "trash stat." That changed with the balance updates. In long-distance races, Guts plays a massive role in the "Last Spurt" phase. It affects how much Stamina is consumed during the final dash and influences the "Kurabe-uma" (shoulder-to-shoulder) mechanic.
When two girls are neck-and-neck in the final 400 meters, the one with higher Guts is less likely to yield. It’s basically their fighting spirit. For long distance, don't leave Guts at 300. You want it at least at 400 or 500. It keeps them from burning through their remaining Stamina too quickly when they're pushing their limits at the end.
Choosing the Right Strategy (Tactics)
Your choice of strategy—Runner, Leader, Betweener, or Chaser—drastically changes your stat requirements.
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- Runners (逃げ - Nige): These girls need the most Stamina. They are fighting the wind the entire time and have no one to draft off of. If you're running someone like Mihono Bourbon or Kita-san Black in a long race, over-prepare on Stamina.
- Chasers (追込 - Oikomi): Think Gold Ship. Chasers can get away with slightly lower Stamina because they spend the first half of the race chilling at the back, but they need massive Power to burst through the pack.
- Leaders (先行 - Senkou): This is the middle ground. It's often the hardest to build for long distance because they can get boxed in, wasting Stamina trying to find a path.
Positioning matters. A lot. If your girl has a "Long Distance" aptitude of A or S, her Stamina efficiency is improved. Never, ever enter a long race with a B aptitude in Distance. It’s a death sentence. Use inheritance to bump that up to A before you even start the first year of training.
Intelligence: The Silent Killer
Wisdom (賢さ - Kashikosa) isn't just about skill trigger rates. In a 3,200m race, Wisdom dictates how well your horse girl manages her "pace." A girl with low Wisdom is more likely to enter the "Kakari" state—where she gets excited and bolts forward too early. This drains Stamina at an accelerated rate.
Basically, if she gets "Kakari," your Stamina calculations go out the window. You could have the perfect build, but a 300 Wisdom stat will cause her to freak out in the first 1,000 meters and gas out before the bend. Aim for at least 600 Wisdom to keep her head level.
Track Specifics: It’s Not Just "Long"
The Tenno Sho (Spring) is at Kyoto. The Arima Kinen is at Nakayama. These tracks aren't the same. Kyoto has a famous "hill" section. If your girl doesn't have the Power to climb or the skills to handle the descent, she’s going to lose momentum.
Power is what allows you to maintain speed on inclines and accelerate out of corners. For long distance, 700-800 Power is the sweet spot. If you're lower than that, your girl will look like she's running through molasses when the track starts to tilt.
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The Importance of Green Skills
Don't sleep on the passive "Green" skills.
- Kyoto Racecourse
- Right Turns
- Spring/Autumn Uma Musume
- Core Distance
These provide flat stat boosts that can push you over the edge. If you know you’re building for a specific Champions Meeting or a specific Legend Race, these are the most cost-effective points you can spend. A "Double Circle" in a weather or track skill can be the difference between a 2nd place and a 1st place finish.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Most people fail because they try to "fix" a bad run with luck. They see their Stamina is low at the end of Year 2 and just hope the "Maestro" skill carries them. It won't. If your stats are lagging by the time you hit the Summer Training camp in Year 3, you're better off restarting or pivoting your strategy.
Another mistake? Ignoring the "Hungry" or "Fatigue" status. In long-distance training, you are hitting the Stamina and Power buttons hard. These drain your energy faster than Speed training. You have to be meticulous with your Rest turns and Crane Game visits. A single "Night Owl" (Insomnia) debuff can ruin a long-distance build because you lose those precious turns needed to hit that high Stamina ceiling.
Practical Next Steps for Your Training
If you're ready to actually win these races, here is how you should approach your next long-distance build:
- Prioritize Inheritance: Look for friends with 9-star Stamina or Power factors. Don't try to build a stayer using Speed factors; you'll get those naturally from training and support cards.
- Lock in Super Creek: Unless you are using a very specific niche build, the Super Creek SSR (Stamina) is essentially mandatory for the "Maestro of the Arc" skill. If you don't own it, borrow it from a friend.
- The 800/800/800 Rule: For a reliable long-distance girl in the mid-game, aim for 800 Speed, 800 Stamina, and 800 Power. Once you can hit that consistently, start pushing the Speed higher while using recovery skills to "fake" higher Stamina.
- Check the Aptitude: Ensure your girl has an 'A' in Long Distance and an 'A' in her chosen tactic. If she has a 'B', use the inheritance phase to fix it. This is a non-negotiable multiplier to your success.
- Watch the Replays: Don't just skip the race. Look at the icons over your girl's head. Is she getting "Kakari" (the purple exclamation mark)? Increase Wisdom. Is she slowing down on the hill? Increase Power. Is she panting before the final stretch? You need more Stamina.
Building a long-distance champion is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes patience and a willingness to restart when the RNG doesn't go your way. But once you see your girl pull away from the pack at the 3,000-meter mark while everyone else is gasping for air, you’ll realize the grind was worth it.