The Death Of Beloved Racehorse Haru Urara Spawns Outpouring Of Tributes Online

Overview

The Death of Haru Urara refers to the passing of the famous 29-year-old Japanese racehorse Haru Urara in early September 2025, who became popularized globally as part of the Uma Musume Pretty Derby^[1] franchise, particularly in mid-to-late 2025 following the English release of the video game. Haru, the horse famous for losing every race she ever entered, had become an icon in 2025 and a symbol for many underdogs. Following her death, numerous memes^[2], tributes, fan art^[3] depictions and other reactions spread online.

Background

Haru Urara, who became very well-known in America with the global launch of the Uma Musume, Pretty Derby video game in mid-2025, was reported on September 9th, 2025, as having passed away due to Colic, which is a buildup of gases in the body. This news quickly spread online and saddened many fans of Haru, who earlier that year had donated money to her ranch to send her premium grass to feast on for months, as part of the Ryegrass for Haru Campaign^[4].

The news of the passing was confirmed by the official X / Twitter^[5] account for Uma Musume Pretty Derby, who shared its condolences for the staff in charge of taking care of Haru in her retirement, causing many fans to respond with fan art and various memes of the horse (shown below).

It is with heavy hearts that we share that Haru Urara passed away on September 9.

The legendary racehorse’s legacy serves as the inspiration for the character of the same name in Umamusume: Pretty Derby.

We share our condolences to all the staff involved in Haru Urara’s care.

— Umamusume: Pretty Derby (@umamusume_eng) September 9, 2025^[6]

Online Reactions

News of Haru’s death quickly spread across social media in early September 2025, saddening many new fans who had only been introduced and fallen in love with her just months prior.

On X, the fan account @Pyrrhixz was quick to note on September 9th that this is the second passing of a famous racehorse in such a short time, as Grass Wonder had previously passed away on August 8th, 2025, while stating that the back-to-back passings are tough (shown below).

#umamusume^[7] fans

Very sad news this morning

Haru Urara has passed away due to colic. We just experienced the loss of Grass Wonder, but these back to back passings really hits me hard…

Rest in peace Haru, you brought so many of us joy in the short time we’ve we’ve known you pic.twitter.com/jqXj4WkASD^[8]

— Pyrrhixz (@Pyrrhixz) September 9, 2025^[9]

Fans of Haru Urara, who had already been adding art of the character to Wplace^[10] were quick to redouble their efforts and spread the art into the area surrounding Marthafarm, her final resting place, as noted by X user @tkm_n_yzkr on September 9th (shown below).

そういえば今マーサファーム周辺どうなってるんだろうって見に行ったら凄いことになってた😂
ウララちゃん、本当に皆から愛されてたんだね… pic.twitter.com/Bkp1Hugf8R^[11]

— 月見乃夜桜 (@tkm_n_yzkr) September 9, 2025^[12]

On September 9th, X user @gyokai_tonkotu_ posted a fan animation and tribute to Haru’s character from Uma Musume, receiving over 116,000 views, 11,000 likes, 2,800 retweets and 120 replies in eight hours.

永遠春夢#ウマ娘 #たぬき#umamusume #haruurara pic.twitter.com/60xmQqXtle^{[13][14][15][16][17]}

— ファインシカカタン (@gyokai_tonkotu_) September 9, 2025^[18]

Also on September 9th, 2025, Redditor^[19] Ani_HArsh posted a Death and the Dog^[20] meme to the /r/Animemes subreddit referencing the horse’s death, receiving over 16,000 upvotes and 190 comments in six hours.

That same day, Redditor Fearless-File-6059 posted a meme featuring the primarchs Lion El’Jonson, Roboute Guilliman and Jaghatai Khan from Warhammer 40,000^[21] to the /r/Grimdank subreddit featuring Haru’s character from Uma Musume, receiving over 1,700 upvotes and 30 comments in four hours.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References