Ever heard of the name Chun Ulala (ハルウララ)?
In the eyes of different people, the name Chun Ulala represents different meanings. In the eyes of some people, Chun Ulala is a racehorse, a legend, and a title of "king of consecutive defeats". In the eyes of another group of people, Chun Ulala is an animated girl with pink hair, a beloved game character, or an idol who sings and dances on stage and shines.
If you go online now and search for images of it, the results are basically all Cygames games and anime character Chun Ulara. The chun ulala in the form of a beautiful girl is more popular than the Buddha-figures— like the historical figures in Fate/Grand Order.
Reality and the game of Chun Ulla
The real-life Chun Ulala is a Japanese horse that has lost 113 consecutive games in the race, born in 1996, has lost many battles, and is still regarded as an inspirational star who never gives up. In the game and anime "Horse Racing Lady Pretty Derby" (ウマ娘プリティーダービー, hereinafter referred to as "Horse Racing Lady") and anime, "Horse Racing Lady".
"Horse Racing Lady" is Cygames' multimedia project dominated by mobile phones and PC games, including anime and music. Related animations have been launched since 2018, and the mobile game of the same name was also released in February this year, setting off a lot of "horse girls" in And around Japan. In the planning, the horse girls of the other world inherited the names and lives of the famous horses in the real world, and in this way, Chun Ulala also came to the world of "Horse Racing Girls", and together with other horse girls who inherited the name of the horse race, they ran on the field as girls with dreams. People cheered her on the field, made her peripherals outside the field, composed songs for her, wrote her into books, made movies, and celebrated her spirit.
However, the real story of Chun Ulala is not as bloody as people think.
<h3>The life of a horse being kidnapped by people</h3>
Chun Ulala was not born optimistic. The pedigree was not very good, and the body was so thin at an early age that no buyer was even willing to take over such a horse, and the rancher had to leave Chun Ulala behind for him to race in Kochi – the kochi horse was chosen because the management fee there was the lowest in Japan. The tuning teacher in charge of the care was only out of the psychology of returning the love of the ranch owner to take over the spring Ulala.
Chun Ulala is quite thin, weighs less than 400 kg, has a timid personality, and to be honest, is not suitable for horse racing. It took a lot of effort for people to get Chon Ula to debut and start horse racing, and as a result, he took the first place in the first race. It's not a good start for a racehorse that makes a living.
The Kochi Racecourse, where Chun Ulara is located, was once nearly bankrupt due to poor management
Then, Chun Ulala began a life of being at the mercy of people. Unable to win in the tournament, Chun Ulala can only earn appearance fees by accumulating the number of matches. The annual management fee of Chun Ulala is 1.3 million to 1.4 million yen, and the appearance fee for a game is 60,000 yen. This means that if you can only run a dozen games a year, it is not worth the loss for managers.
In this case, Chun Ulala runs about 20 races a year. What is the concept of 20 games? The "miracle horse" Tokai Emperor (トウカイイテイオー), who won the Japan Cup and the Arima Commemorative Race, never ran enough to run 20 races in his lifetime. This kind of overwork has plagued Chun Ulala with injuries and long-term illness of his hooves, but with the exception of one abandonment, he is still competing at the same pace.
The local media took a fancy to Chun Ulala, a weak horse, and Kochi Racecourse wanted to create a star with gimmicks. Kochi News reporters "instinctively thought the news could catch fire," and the two sides hit it off, and in order to save Kochi's horse racing's poor financial situation, they packaged Chun Ulala as a star who had repeatedly lost battles.
People began to pursue Chun Ulala and began to regard it as an "idol" – enjoying watching its "hard work" figure. People began to look forward to its losing streak, and all the people around the horse trainer Zongshi told him, "Don't let Ulala win." On the day of the 100-game losing streak, the Kochi Racecourse was home to more than 5,000 spectators – not so many spectators in more than four years. More than 120 journalists from 33 newspapers came here to source their stories.
Chun Ulala was on fire. People started writing songs, writing books, making documentaries and movies for it. Keychains, T-shirts, mugs, hats... Even the tail hair is used to make amulets for sale. Fans crave the periphery of Chun Ulla, watching it lose continuously, appreciating its "hard work" and "hard work". Chun Ulala also ran all the way down and lost all the way...
Images of Chun Ulara broadcast on television
A CD of the song with the theme of Spring Ulara
However, Chun Ulala's body was unable to sustain it to continue the game. In 2004, after several arguments between the owner anxi and the trainer, it was decided to send him to Tochigi Prefecture for recuperation. Until the end, the owner hoped that it would "return to Kochi after a good rest and win the retirement race", however, after a comprehensive health assessment, Harumura was unable to perform the retreat race and remained in Tochigi Prefecture to retire. In 2006, its horse racing status was revoked and its record was finally fixed at 113-0 wins – which may be the worst result for a racehorse.
After retiring, Chun Ulala did not have a peaceful birthday. In 2009, the owner wanted to send it for mating, but it was "unable to bear the high mating fee" and failed. In 2013, the owner entrusted Chun Ulala to the Matha Ranch in Chiba Prefecture, and after only half a year, he stopped paying any management fees, and the owner himself never appeared again. The abandoned Chun Ulara has been living in the Matha Ranch to this day, and is cared for by the Ranch and the "Chun Ulala Association".
<h3>The fate of a horse</h3>
Losing streaks like Chun Ulara are not uncommon in the world of horse racing. After successive failures, most horses are most likely to be sold as waste horses in butcher shops. Chun Ulala was treated as a star of consecutive defeats, received the attention and care of fans, and to a certain extent was able to spend the rest of his life in peace. However, when the failure of the spring urala was praised by people, many people in the industry felt sorry for the horses that had been abandoned in the past - if such a spring ulala could survive, then what about the horses that were sent to the butcher's shop?
The world of horse racing is brutal. Without the ability to create economic value, the horse racer has no right to live. The famous horsemi bath (ライスシャワー), well known to the players of "Horse Racing Lady"), despite his past success, fell down in the Takarazuka Memorial Tournament and caused a crushing fracture. Due to the difficulty of transporting to the clinic, Miyu was euthanized on the spot in a tent on the field. In this way, it may be luckier to be able to live to this day's Spring Ulara, who has been ill for a long time.
Miyu's last appearance on the field
People always compare horse racing to other sports, and talk a lot about the spirit of horse racing – hard work, hard work, blood. When people talk about "Horse Racing Lady", they always say that "when they see the little girl running hard, they want to cheer her up", and want these "little girls" to realize their dreams. This made the audience feel moved by themselves, and people felt that "they also gained the courage to fight" when they saw Chun Ulala. The players of "Horse Racing Lady" even tried to make Chun Ula win in the game to make up for the helplessness in reality. Looking around, the recommendation of "Horse Racing Lady" is full of keywords such as youth, dreams, and hard work.
But these "victories" are not necessarily the dreams of the horses.
Horses are not athletes. Athletes become athletes, for whatever reason, at least out of their own choice. Horses have no choice, they are born to run, and if they can't produce results, they have to meet a tragic end — being sent to a butcher's shop, or euthanized, and miracles like Chun Ulla are few and far between. Legally speaking, a horse is the property of a horse owner, who has the right to dispose of the horse in any form. Therefore, in order for the owner of the horse to continue to feed himself, the only chance for the horse to survive is to keep racing. Reality doesn't resemble cartoons and games, where a horse can't relive its life again and again, nor does it have those warm everyday lives, let alone put on idol costumes and stand on stage.
Horses can only run. This is the fate of a racehorse.
<h3>What we have pinned on the horse racing</h3>
When people cheer on horse racing, they may project their desire to achieve their dreams onto them. Seeing the horse race win, I was satisfied. In particular, the "fighting spirit" like Chun Ulara is even more "moving", so under the influence of the "Underdog Effects", people spontaneously cheer for this unsuccessful racehorse and appreciate its "hard work".
People can't help but support those weak, disadvantaged players to satisfy their hearts. Recently, there have also been well-funded gamers and animation audiences, infected by "Horse Racing Lady", and have begun to care about the aftermath of horse racing. Some people donate money to raise the cost of maintenance after the horse race, and some go to the racecourse to buy horse tickets to "support the horse racing cause". Even more powerfully, directly funding the ownership of the horse race, becoming the owner of the horse – although it is funded, each funder can get a dividend from the horse race. Cygames' earnings from Horse Racing Lady are also partly used to conserve retired horse racing. From this point of view, there are indeed more people who care about these horses.
The cute "horse racing lady" has become an opportunity for many people to care about horse racing
Horse racing players and spectators came, and the lives of horse racing improved, but at the same time, their consumption made the horse racing industry, which had been declining, and everyone who knew about horse racing knew about it, come alive again. People who are active in order to love and care for horses will eventually create more unfortunate horses - the retirement life of Chun Ulala is not the norm for horse racing, and more horses can only run for their lives.
Some people may say that it seems more meaningful to a life than a beef cow or pig that is directly cultivated as an ingredient, and a horse that can run for human entertainment. They may be right, modern society is not yet advanced enough to respect the rights of horses as they respect people – in the end, for people, horse racing is just a tool of entertainment, some people make money from events, some people speculate on horses, and some people pin their ideals on life in watching races. Even in the game, many characters are only treated as sexual objects by the player, and the meme of "wanting to have sex with Yamato Akaji (ダイワスカーレット) can be seen everywhere on social networking sites - Yamato Akaji is also a real-life horse racing lady, who is portrayed in the game as a beautiful and cute little girl.
Therefore, people will eventually have to face the problem that horse racing, as a recreational activity, will not be stopped by the poor situation of one or two people. People treat the role of Ma Niang as their daughter in the game, but in reality, will you let your daughter play tired and tired, and will you watch your daughter be sold after retiring?
It's always a good thing to become interested in horse racing through Horse Racing Lady and learn about the difference between real horse racing and cartoons and games. Thanks to the efforts of players and Cygames, the old age of some horse racing horses has been guaranteed, which is no small improvement. Is it possible for us to go one step further and let the horse break away from the cycle of horse racing and live a healthy and free life for the rest of our lives? It may seem like a fool's dream now, but with so many spectators who have fallen in love with horses through "Horse Racing Girl", if they are willing to make some changes and efforts, they cherish the lives of the horses more than the "sense of struggle" they get from the fake race, then the future of the horse racing may really be different.