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SARGA.CO - Rather than winning the biggest races, some racehorses become belovedbecause of the affection they inspire, and few exemplify that better than Yukino Bijin, the elegant 90s mare affectionately nicknamed "Bishoujo" (Beautiful Girl) by Japanese racing fans, echoing her name’s meaning of “beautiful lady of snow”.

The horse’s neatly braided mane decorated with white ribbons and distinctive white racing hood gave her an unmistakable appearance. 

Though she never claimed a G1 title, her beauty, determination, and rise from the regional circuit made her so popular that she inspired stuffed dolls of her sold during Japan's racing boom - and enough to be immortalised as a character in Uma Musume: Pretty Derby.

Foaled on 10 March 1990, Yukino Bijin was the daughter of Sakura Yutaka O, winner of the 1986 Tenno Sho (Autumn) and Osaka Hai, while her dam, Fatima, was by American G1 winner Royal Ski; thus combining prominent Japanese and international bloodlines. 

She began her career in 1992 with a win on dirt at Morioka Racecourse in Iwate Prefecture, far from the bright lights of the Japan Racing Association (JRA). 

At the height of Japan's racing popularity, stable space in the JRA was hard to obtain, forcing promising horses like Yukino Bijin to wait longer than planned for a transfer to the central circuit despite repeated wins.

When she finally did in early 1993, she immediately captured the Crocus Stakes, impressively on turf after previously only competing on dirt.

Yukino Bijin showed herself as one of her generation’s leading fillies during the 1993 Triple Tiara campaign. In the Oka Sho, she came within a neck of upsetting the brilliant Vega, who she finished right behind again a month later in the Japanese Oaks.

Although victory eluded her in both Classics, her performances won widespread admiration. As one official JRA retrospective famously observed:

"Actually Yukino Bijin couldn't win any G1s. However, it might be happier for racehorses to be loved so, and answer their expectations with doing their very best, than to win," quoted from Supporting Actor Memorial Vol.8: Yukino Bijin.

Following a summer break, Yukino Bijin returned in the autumn stronger than ever with a win as the favourite in the G3 Queen Stakes, defeating future G1 winner Hokuto Vega by two lengths to earn her first - and ultimately only - graded stakes victory.

She later raced in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup, then the final leg of the Triple Tiara, but could manage only tenth, the poorest finish of her career. She rebounded in her final race by winning the Turquoise Stakes, once again defeating Hokuto Vega.

Unfortunately, a fracture in her left foreleg forced her retirement in 1994 before ever racing again, with a record of six wins from ten starts.

Retired to Murata Farm as a broodmare, Yukino Bijin produced twelve foals, although none matched their mother's success on the racetrack. Persistent hoof problems and the physical demands of breeding led to her retiring from broodmare duties in 2010.

She lived peacefully before passing away from acute heart failure on 22 July 2016, at the age of 26. 

Two years later, a monument honouring her legacy was unveiled at Yushun Memorial Park as a token of gratitude to fans alongside that of Charm Asleep, another Murata Farm-bred horse who won the South Kanto Fillies’ Triple Crown.

Yukino Bijin has recently found a new audience through Uma Musume: Pretty Derby, where she joins the global version this August as part of the growing cast of legendary Japanese racehorses.

Faithful to her real-life story, the character is portrayed as a hardworking country girl from rural Iwate who dreams of becoming a sophisticated "city girl". Dubbed “Darl'n Snowflake”, she speaks with an accent in the Nanbu dialect of the Tohoku region, reflecting her origins in Morioka, and possesses a hidden talent for hair braiding - a tribute to the real Yukino Bijinand her trademark braided mane.

Aside from Gold City, her in-game friendships also contain real-life references. She shares a bond with Manhattan Cafe, who sired one of her foals in 2006, while Winning Ticket references another of her offspring, Maruhachi Dolan, born in 2004.