KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 30 — It won’t just be jockeys and thoroughbreds turning heads at the Selangor Turf Club’s (STC) Merdeka Cup this year as a wave of local fans and cosplayers of the popular Japanese franchise Umamusume: Pretty Derby are trotting in to join the festivities.

Jesse Yau, one of the co-founders and administrator of a local Umamusume fan club on Facebook said local cosplayers are indeed looking forward to the aforementioned special horse race celebrating Malaysia’s independence on August 31.

He said he was also hopeful that other fans, beyond the fan club — including long-timers and newcomers — would turn out in support of the event as well.

It is estimated that hundreds of Umamusume cosplayers and fans are expected to attend the special race, judging on the recent crowd turnout during AniManGaki 2025 held at the Mines International Exhibition & Convention Centre (MIECC).

“We have been a small fandom throughout these three, four years but it’s a mixed emotion to see this sudden rise in popularity and size following the (franchise’s) worldwide English-language edition launch in June,” the 40-year-old told Malay Mail when met at AniManGaki 2025 here recently.

The Umamusume franchise, which includes a video game and anime, centres on “horse girl” characters named after and modelled on actual Japanese racehorses, inheriting their personalities, racing records and relationships with other racehorses (who are also horse girls themselves).

Developed by Tokyo-based Cygames, the game was initially available in Japanese when it was first released on mobile in February 2021.

It has seen a surge in popularity in South-east Asia following its global release, sparking renewed interest in horse racing.

Another administrator of the fan club, Aqlif Putra, expressed confidence that the built-up excitement on any race day, not just the Merdeka Cup, would resonate with newcomers to the fandom.

“Once you see the horses running past you, you can actually feel the heat of competition and that is something I feel a lot of fans will feel invested in,” the 28-year-old said.

Apart from cosplaying their favourite horse girl characters, Yau said Umamusume fans have also begun checking out the pedigrees of local race horses and how to support them in the future to honour their legacies.

For all race day details, including schedules, horse profiles, expert tips, and past performance records, visitors can check STC’s official website: https://www.selangorturfclub.com/.