Vodka, one of the most iconic characters in Uma Musume: Pretty Derby, is beloved for her rebellious personality, competitive spirit, and incredible potential on the racetrack. Whether you’re a seasoned trainer aiming for Ura Finals victories or a newcomer trying to unlock her maximum potential, crafting a strong build for Vodka is both rewarding and necessary. This guide walks you through every detail—training focuses, support card selection, race schedules, and inheritance traits—to help you consistently raise a powerful Vodka.
TL;DR
Vodka excels in middle to long-distance races with exceptional speed and power potential. Focus your training on Speed and Power, use Support Cards that complement middle-distance strategies, and prioritize skill sets that support aggressive front-runner or mid-pack surges. With a balanced race schedule and proper inheritance, Vodka can become one of your top-performing Uma Musume in Ura Finals, Legend Races, or PvP.
Understanding Vodka’s Base Stats and Characteristics
Vodka begins with a stat distribution that favors Speed and Power, with decent Guts and a passable Stamina foundation. Her growth rates are:
- Speed: +20%
- Power: +10%
- Stamina: 0%
- Guts & Wisdom: 0%
This makes her ideal for middle distance (1600m–2200m) races where bursts of speed and strength can secure victory. She comes with innate suitability for dirt and middle-to-long-distance races, and thrives in the Leader strategy.
Recommended Training Path
To capitalize on her growth rate and role suitability, focus your training priorities as follows:
- Primary: Speed and Power
- Secondary: Stamina (only optionally if you plan for longer races above 2000m)
- Minimal: Wisdom and Guts (raise in final turns for skill point optimization)
Since Vodka’s growth naturally leans into Speed and Power, she can reach high competitiveness early with the right support combinations.
Best Support Cards for Vodka
The key to creating a strong Vodka lies in your Support Card setup. Since she shines in the middle-distance category, prioritize cards that provide:
- Speed and Power gains
- Mid-distance specific skills
- Good bonding events for early Friend Support activation
Here’s a sample team that works incredibly well for building Vodka:
- Speed: Oguri Cap (SSR), Kitasan Black (SSR), or Daiwa Scarlet (SSR)
- Power: Narita Brian (SR), El Condor Pasa (SSR)
- Flex Picks: A Wisdom card like Fine Motion or Tamamo Cross for skill points, or a Stamina card like Mihono Bourbon for longer race adaptation
If you don’t have many SSR cards, don’t worry—there are plenty of good SR options like Hayakawa Tazuna or Rice Shower that can cover gaps in bonding and race scheduling.
Inheritance Strategy and Skill Goals
Vodka benefits greatly from inherited skills that suit her leading or second-place strategies. You’ll want to inherit a mix of:
- Middle-distance compatibility
- Leader or Betweener strategies
- Useful gold or rare skills like “Speed Star”, “Second Wind”, “Last Spurt”
To optimize her inheritance, pair her with parents like:
- Special Week – Great for Stamina and long-distance training
- Sakura Bakushin O – For Speed inheritance and short-to-middle race suitability
- Mejiro Ryan – Adds balanced stat-inheritance and mid-distance coverage
Race Strategy and Schedule
To maximize stats and fans while unlocking her awakening levels quickly, follow a smart race path. Begin entering races around Turn 6-8 based on Trainer Skill, then follow this schedule:
- Junior Class: Debut Race → Junior Stakes (G3)
- Classic Class: NHK Mile Cup (G1), Tokyo Yushun (G1 – optional stamina required)
- Senior Class: Tenno Sho (Autumn), Mainichi Okan, or Mile CS
- URA Finals: Prep carefully with balanced stats and skill selection
You’ll want Vodka trained to handle adversity over multiple distances between 1600 and 2400 meters. Be sure to select races appropriate for her base stamina and consider skipping longer G1s if your stamina is underdeveloped.
Awakening Skills to Watch
Here are Vodka’s Awakening skills and the levels they unlock:
- Lv2: Speed Star – Great for Leader types in final corner surges
- Lv3: Nitōryū – Unique aggressive final push skill
- Lv4: Second Wind – Slight recovery skill in the final phase
- Lv5: Powerful Racer – Near-sprint surge skill
Her final Awakened skills mostly complement her Leader role, especially in middle races. Speed Star and Powerful Racer are two of the most synergistic gold skills for dominating endgame sprints.
Unique Character Skill: Winning Gaze
Vodka’s Unique Skill “Winning Gaze” activates in the final stage when she overtakes in mid-position races during the last corner. It gives a burst of speed that can be decisive in crossings. You should build her to revolve around this unique trigger—make sure the skill activation conditions are fulfilled consistently through build synergy.
Some ways to increase the likelihood of this skill’s success:
- Use support cards that enhance cornering
- Prioritize training for races with corner-heavy layouts
- Equip skills like “Corner Accel” and “Smooth Stepper”
Beginner Pro Tips for Raising Vodka
If you’re just getting started with Vodka, here are some beginner tips to maximize her performance:
- Always monitor bond meter with Support Cards—Friend Skills give massive stat gains
- Don’t underestimate fan count—many skills and awakening locks are tied to fan milestones
- Use Light Blue friend cards early to assist in reducing training randomness
Building Vodka also benefits from taking some early races beyond the story mode. Try tackling training with an event like Make a New Track!! or Champions Meeting to get a better sense of how Vodka works under pressure.
Ideal Final Stats
For URA Finals and competitive PvP, try aiming for the following benchmark stats:
- Speed: 1200
- Power: 1000–1100
- Stamina: 600–750 (depending on inheritance and race)
- Wisdom: 400–600
- Guts: 300–400
These numbers will allow Vodka to handle a majority of the high-grade races with consistency and give you enough skill points for a winning setup.
Conclusion
Vodka is a versatile and powerhouse runner when raised correctly. Her potential to dominate mid-distance races with sharp front-running speed and a signature burst makes her one of the strongest characters in Uma Musume: Pretty Derby. Focus on Speed and Power, build a skill set that triggers her Unique effectively, and leverage inheritance smartly—soon