Let’s be honest. If you’ve spent any time in Uma Musume Pretty Derby, you know the Satsuki Sho isn't just another race. It’s a wall. You’re hitting the Nakayama turf in mid-April, the crowd is screaming, and suddenly your favorite girl—who was crushing it in the Pre-OPs—is gasping for air at the 2000m mark. It’s frustrating. It's the first leg of the Triple Crown, and for many trainers, it’s where the dream of a Triple Crown title goes to die.
The Satsuki Sho Uma Musume Pretty Derby experience is a unique beast because of how the game simulates the Nakayama Racecourse. You aren't just running; you're battling a technical layout. Nakayama is famous for its tight corners and that brutal final slope. If you haven't accounted for the "Power" stat, that uphill climb will eat your stamina alive. Most players focus way too much on Speed early on. Speed is great, sure, but Speed without the Power to navigate the final stretch is just a recipe for a heartbreaking fourth-place finish.
Why the Satsuki Sho Uma Musume Pretty Derby Is the Ultimate Training Filter
The Satsuki Sho serves as the "Sincere" race. In the real world of Japanese horse racing, they say the Satsuki Sho is for the fastest horse, the Tokyo Yushun (Derby) is for the luckiest, and the Kikuka Sho is for the strongest. In the game, this translates to a very specific set of stat checks. Since it happens in Junior Year (April), you don't have a lot of time to fix mistakes.
If you've been slacking on guts or power, the game will punish you here. The 2000m distance sits right on the edge of "Mile" and "Medium" logic. This confuses a lot of trainers. Do you build for a sprint? Do you build for endurance? Honestly, the answer is usually a bit of both, but with a heavy emphasis on positioning skills. Because Nakayama has a shorter homestretch compared to Tokyo, if your girl gets trapped in the pack (the dreaded "blocked" status), she’s done. There’s no time to recover.
The Nakayama Factor: Inner vs. Outer
The track layout matters more than the UI tells you. Nakayama is a right-handed track. If you haven't inherited "Right-Handed" or "Inner Track" buffs, you're giving up free stats. I’ve seen 1200 Speed builds lose to 800 Speed builds simply because the latter had "Non-Stop Girl" and a "Right-Handed" circle. It’s about efficiency.
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Let's talk about the hill. The Nakayama final straight has an elevation gain that feels significantly more impactful in the game's engine than the flat stretches of Niigata. This is where the Power stat determines your acceleration. If your Power is under 400 by the time Satsuki Sho rolls around, you’ll see your character visibly slow down as the icons for the leaders pull away. It sucks. It really does.
Choosing the Right Girls for the Satsuki Sho
Not every Uma Musume is built for this. If you’re running someone like Gold Ship, the Satsuki Sho is your playground. Her stamina growth and her "Gate of Adventure" unique skill thrive in these mid-distance grinds. But if you’re trying to force a short-distance specialist to stretch their legs here, you’re going to need some serious inheritance work.
Tokai Teio is a classic choice, but she’s fragile. Her positioning needs to be perfect. On the other hand, someone like Mihono Bourbon can just bully the front of the pack. If she hits the final corner in the lead, her high floor for stamina usually carries her through the hill.
The Skill Trap
Don't just click every gold skill that pops up. For the Satsuki Sho Uma Musume Pretty Derby run, "Maestro of the Depths" (Enko no Maestro) is often overkill for 2000m, yet players buy it anyway because it’s a high-tier skill. You’re better off spending those points on "Corner Acceleration" or "Positioning Sense."
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Think about the "Guts" (Root) stat too. It was buffed significantly in later patches of the game. During the final spurt, Guts prevents your speed from decaying too quickly. In a race as tight as the Satsuki Sho, those few extra frames of top-speed maintenance are the difference between a trophy and a "better luck next time" screen.
Navigating the Early Game Training Schedule
You have roughly 15 to 18 turns before the Satsuki Sho hits. That’s not a lot. You spend the first few turns just building bonds with support cards. If you don't have at least three people on a single training tab by turn 5, you're already behind the curve.
Focus on:
- Bonding: Get those rainbow training sessions unlocked ASAP.
- Speed/Power Balance: Aim for a 3:2 ratio in the early months.
- The "Hopeful Stakes" Trick: Run the Hopeful Stakes in December of the Junior year. It’s the same track and distance. If you win that, you’re on the right track. If you struggle there, you have three months to pivot your training focus before the Satsuki Sho.
Common Misconceptions About the Satsuki Sho
People think the "Medium Distance" rating is all that matters. It's not. The game calculates the "Satsuki Sho Uma Musume Pretty Derby" logic based on the specific "Right-Turn" and "Spring" tags.
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I’ve talked to veteran players who swear that "Lane Moving" skills are useless here because the track is narrow. They aren't entirely wrong. While you do need to move, "Vertical" movement (speeding up) is way more valuable at Nakayama than "Horizontal" movement (shifting lanes). If you’re wasting skill points on "In-Side Master," you might be over-optimizing for a scenario that the AI doesn't always exploit.
Another big mistake? Ignoring the "Condition" (Mood). If your girl is in "Normal" or "Bad" mood, she takes a massive penalty to her base stats. Always, always use a turn to go to the Shrine or the Outing if you’re not at "Perfect" (Orange) mood before a Triple Crown race. The 10% stat boost from mood is worth more than one extra training session.
Strategic Inheritance: The Secret Sauce
You shouldn't go into the Satsuki Sho with a random pool of parents. Look for "Ura Scenario" or "Aoharu" factors that boost Stamina and Power. Specifically, look for parents who have won the Satsuki Sho themselves. The game has a "hidden" affinity system where winning the same races as your ancestors provides a slight boost to skill activation rates.
If you can get a "Corner Recovery" blue skill inherited, you basically negate the need to train Stamina for the first half of the year. This allows you to dump everything into Speed and Power, making your Uma Musume an absolute blur on the track.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Run
To actually win the Satsuki Sho consistently, stop playing it like a generic race.
- Prioritize Power over Stamina early: 400 Power is the "safe" zone for the Nakayama hill. If you have 300 Stamina and a recovery skill, you'll finish the 2000m without fading.
- Target "Right-Handed" and "Spring" factors: Use the filter tool in your friend list to find support Uma Musume with these specific white factors. They are cheap to buy and provide massive hidden bonuses.
- The 400/400/400 Rule: By the time April rolls around, try to have your Speed, Stamina, and Power all hovering around 400. This "balanced" build is much more resilient against the AI's RNG than a "Glass Cannon" build with 600 Speed and 200 Power.
- Watch the Debuffs: The AI in the Satsuki Sho loves to use "Red" skills (debuffs). Having a bit of "Guts" or a "Focus" skill can help you ignore the "Temptation" or "Pressure" debuffs that the rival girls will throw at you.
- Check the Track Surface: Nakayama can be "Heavy" or "Rough" if the RNG decides it’s raining. If you’re building a specialist, having a "Rough Track" skill is a niche but powerful way to steal a win when the favorites are struggling in the mud.
The Satsuki Sho is a test of preparation. It’s the game’s way of asking if you’ve actually been paying attention to the mechanics or if you’re just clicking the glowing buttons. Balance your stats, respect the hill at Nakayama, and make sure your positioning skills are locked in before the gates open. By focusing on the specific technical demands of the Nakayama turf rather than just raw speed, you'll find that the first leg of the Triple Crown becomes a stepping stone rather than a stumbling block.