Special Week

"I'll bring a special dream to all my fans!"

- Special Week

Special Week (スペシャルウィーク, Supesharu Wīku) is one of the main protagonist of Uma Musume: Pretty Derby.

She was a simple country girl that lived in Hokkaido with her adoptive mother. But then moved to Tokyo alone and matriculated to Tracen Academy. Although her clumsiness is an obstacle to her confidence, she received an instant liking from the audiences after winning two races in a row. Under Trainer's guidance and training, she is taking steps closer to her goal to become Japan's best horse girl.

However due to Silence Suzuka's fracture injury, her performance in races drastically dropped as she focuses too much on Suzuka's recovery. Soon she realizes her fall and immediately sprung back into serious training.

She later won the Japan Cup against Broye, which allows her to claim the title as the best horse girl in Japan.

Personality
Special Week is well known for her bright character and positive thinking. She manifests an invincible fighting spirit and strives as much as possible to accomplish her goals. Despite getting frustrated sometimes, she never gives up. Although she is a cheerful horse girl, there are times where she is nervous and often freezes as she swims through her thoughts. She can be unaware of her surroundings whatsoever when she is worried. But her uneasy feelings do not stay long, as she will find ways to turn things around.

Appearance
She is a loving, adorable horse girl slightly smaller and more overweight than average. She has bob hazelnut hair, white bangs and a plait across the back of her head with a lavender ribbon tied on it. She wears a bow with the same color on her right ear as well. Her eyes are rose purple and always seem to carry a joyful, excited expression.

Starting Gate 01

 * Fanfare for Future!


 * わたしの印は大本命◎


 * Umapyoi Densetsu (unit version)

Trivia

 * Like Oguri Cap, her appetite is big, she mostly appears with a swollen/bloated belly afterwards. After she weighed herself as she perceived she was starting get fat, she starts to go on a diet to maintain a healthy weight.
 * Her favorite food is Carrot Salisbury Steak.
 * Her mother and herself both have a Hokkaido accent once they're back at their home.
 * Despite most of horses are born in Hokkaido in Japan, only Special Week speaks so in Uma Musume.
 * Special week had 2 mothers, one who gave birth to her and one who took care of her. This was revealed in an episode of Uma Musume season 1.

Real Life
"The dream that remained till the last, winning Japanese Derby! Yutaka Take, and Special Week grasped the dream!"

- 1998 Japanese Derby, by Masaharu Miyake (Fuji TV)

Special Week is a racehorse in the end of 1990s. He was born in 1995, known as the Golden Age, and fought against many of the strongest rivals.

He was also a great broodsire. his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren won G1s, and have been succeeding his blood.


 * His mother Campaign Girl died of a colic, five days after she bore him. He was wet-nursed by a draft horse.
 * When he was a foal, a New Zealander groom Tina took care of him. She is supposedly a model of horse girl Special's foster mother.
 * His jockey Yutaka Take had won seven of the 8 Majors by 1997, however, only the Derby he could never win despite nine tries. Special Week gave him the first Derby. So far, Yutaka won five Derbies, the most in JRA jockeys.
 * He died of falling down in pasturage on April 27, 2018. It was just after episode 5 was aired.