Palio 17 August 2024
Fun Fact: 2024 was the only year in Palio history where both the 2 July and 16 August Palio were postponed due to adverse weather conditions.
Oh so many thoughts, because WHAT A PALIO. Benitos (C7) was one of four debut horses, and Dino Pes (Velluto) was the oldest jockey in the Piazza, with only 9 Palii to his name (no victories). Absolutely no one had favoured the Lupa to win; all talk in the days preceding the Palio had been about Istrice (Tittia on Viso d’Angelo), Oca (Brigante on Ares Elce), Valdimontone (Scompiglio on Veranu), and Selva (debut jockey, Virgola, on July’s winner, Tabacco). Indeed, it was Istrice’s Palio to lose, and so people assumed Lupa’s strategy was purely defensive as the outcome appeared inevitable. Velluto hadn’t run in Siena since 2017, and before that, 2004, although he has had tremendous success in other races throughout Italy. He skillfully antagonized rival Istrice in between the starting ropes, remaining admirably calm the entire time. Tittia was visibly frustrated throughout the approximately 45 minutes of the mossa (start), and could be seen yelling at Velluto on a number of occasions (quite vehemently, in the Sardinian dialect). There was another part to Lupa’s strategy, however: to WIN (which, ovviamente, is the best way to ensure that your rival loses).
The Captains have tactics for almost every conceivable sequence of their Contrada within the “canapi” (starting ropes). The order is determined by lot and only revealed after the Contrade have arrived at the mossa. Fate was enjoying herself when she determined this lineup, placing Istrice in position 2, then rival Lupa next to it in 3rd. Valdimontone was 8th, with its rival, Nicchio, 9th. Nicchio kept pressing up against Valdimontone, forcing all the horses down the line, leaving Istrice, Onda, and Leocorno often without enough space to join the row. Civetta was keeping an eye on many things outside the ropes from the rincorsa (run-up), as its rival, Leocorno, attempted to stay in the 6th position. The mossiere (starter) was so aggravated by Nicchio that he actually shouted at its jockey on multiple occasions. When Civetta did finally go (the mossiere had prohibited it from even attempting to start quite a few times), Lupa left the ropes first and never lost the lead. Benitos was stronger and faster than anyone (except those in the Lupa) had realized, and Velluto (“Velvet”) ran a beautifully smooth, poetic, masterful race. Lupa triumphed, and everyone else lost. However, there were some other Contrade that celebrated the evening of the 17th because, even if they didn’t get to take home the Drappellone (silk banner), their rivals didn’t either; this, too, is Palio!
Compliments to the Contrada della Lupa for a brilliant Palio, one that had all of the elements to make it truly one for the history books.
There are many more things that could be said, but for now, I urge you to watch this Palio, an incredible 3 laps around the most glorious piazza in the world. Evviva il Palio, evviva Siena!
The order in between the ropes was:
Onda 🐬: Sebastiano Murtas (Grandine) on Canarinu (C6)
Istrice 🦔: Giovanni Atzeni (Tittia) on Viso d’Angelo (C10)
LUPA 🐺: Dino Pes (VELLUTO) on BENITOS (C7)
Chiocciola 🐌 : Giuseppe Zedde (Gingillo) on Comancio (C6)
Oca 🪿: Carlo Sanna (Brigante) on Ares Elce (C8)
Leocorno 🦄: Elias Mannucci (Turbine) on Zentiles (C9)
Selva 🌳🦏: Andrea Sanna (Virgola) on Tabacco (C12)
Valdimontone 🐏: Jonathan Bartoletti (Scompiglio) on Veranu (C10)
Nicchio 🐚: Federico Guglielmi (Tamurè) on Brivido Sauro (C7)
Civetta 🦉: Enrico Bruschelli (Bellocchio) on Zenis (C9)
Palio 4 July 2024
Summary: the start was clearly invalid, but Onda ran a beautiful Palio and won on 4 July 2024.
For those of you with more stamina, here’s my take:
And so another Palio has become history, and like much of history, it is not without its controversy.
We have grown more and more accustomed to Mother Nature’s quirks (thanks in no small part to our own follies), and I’ve borne witness to her capricious nature on more than one occasion. On 16 August 2022, for example, just minutes before the Corteo Storico (Historical Procession) entered the Piazza del Campo, the heavens opened and a 5-minute downpour soaked right through the dirt track so that the Palio had to be postponed until the 17th. On 2 July, however, the Corteo Storico entered the Piazza, the Palio banner was hoisted up next to the Palco dei Giudici (Judges’ Balcony, where the Mayor, city officials, and Contrada Captains all stand), the Sbandierata della Vittoria (Victory Flag Display) took place, and the jockeys came out onto the track. A light rain had begun, but the Mossiere (the “Starter”, the person in charge of dropping the rope and determining whether or not a start is valid) received the envelope with the order of the Contrade in between the starting ropes.* The rain continued, but the jockeys were able to line their horses up a few times, and all hoped that the Palio could be run. However, soon it became clear that a few minutes more and the track would turn to mud, putting the horses and jockeys at risk. The Mossiere ordered the Contrade back to the Entrone (the courtyard of the Palazzo Pubblico), and shortly thereafter, the green flag was displayed on the town hall to indicate that the Palio had to be postponed (but this of course was clear to all).
The Palio of Provenzano was thus moved to the evening of 3 July. All day in Siena the air was heavy, with uncertainty, stress, and humidity. As everyone made their way to the battlefield that is the Piazza del Campo, the rain drops began once more, and then, an absolute downpour. For some reason there was a bit of a delay in bringing out that green-does-not-mean-go flag, but it was immediately obvious that we would need to move to 4 July.
The Palio di Provenzano has been run on 2 July since 1656 (in honour of the Madonna di Provenzano), but 27 times it has had to be moved to 3 July, and only 14 times to the 4th, making this just the 15th time in history a Palio was to be run on this date. The weather was on our side, but this turned out to be an odd Palio indeed.
Very rarely has a Palio been run with the order in between the starting ropes already known, but the rules state that unless there is an impossibility of running with the prescribed order, the second “busta” (envelope with the order, determined by lot) shall not be used. And so it was that strategies had been ongoing up until 19.00 on the 4th, as deals were made with Lupa (which was in the “rincorsa” or run-up position), and the rivals Valdimontone-Nicchio and Civetta-Leocorno, placed next to each other by the Fates, were able to think of new plans of attack (or lack thereof, given what transpired).
You all know that the Palio is the longest continuously run bareback horserace in the world, and that it continues to evolve. In 1930, the “rincorsa” was introduced, so that 9 Contrade would line up in between the “canapi” (ropes), and the 10th would remain outside. When the 10th horse began its run up to the back rope and the horse’s nose was about to reach the back rope, the Mossiere would drop the front rope. Of course false starts could occur, should the Mossiere realize he dropped the rope too soon (either by anticipating the rincorsa’s move, or by lowering the rope if the horses were pressing up against it too much, risking their safety or their jockeys’).
The first “mossa” (start) of this Palio did not look to be too bad, but the “mortaletto” (cannon) fired immediately to indicate that the Mossiere was not convinced. The second mossa was clearly invalid, so that the cannon fired once more. The third mossa was then declared valid, to the surprise of absolutely everyone (including yours truly, who was calling the race in English), and the Mossiere was whisked away as the 10 Contrade began to race for glory. Here is a (mostly) objective description of what happened:
Nicchio pushed up against the front rope, Valdimontone was almost pushed back from the rope, and Pantera on the inside nearly stumbled over it. The front rope dropped as Lupa (rincorsa) was nowhere near the back rope. Oca, Leocorno, and Onda (at the top of the lineup) got off to a strong start, with Bruco and Pantera hot on their heels. At the first San Martino curve, it was Oca, Leocorno, then Onda, followed by the others, when Civetta tried to pass on the inside, lost control, and fell (both horse and jockey are fine, but the Civetta jockey threw his hands up in exasperation before he was escorted off the track). The first Casato curve was taken well by Oca and Onda, with Leocorno still there and now Montone gaining speed. Onda then snuck ahead and took the second San Martino well, with Oca and Leocorno right behind. But then Montone fell, taking Pantera down with it, and then Nicchio! It was a nasty pile up, with the jockeys for Montone and Nicchio being carted off in stretchers and spending the night in hospital (they’re both fine, as are all 3 horses).
At the second Casato, this Palio was now truly between Onda, Oca, and Leocorno. With one more lap to go, it was still anyone’s race. Onda took the third San Martino beautifully, whereas Oca went a bit wide and lost that momentum it had been gaining. Some observed that Leocorno appeared to be pulling back a bit, but whatever other strategies were at play, after a perfect third Casato, the jockey Carlo Sanna (aka “Brigante”, “Bandit”) raised his whip in triumph as Tabacco (C12, 7th Palio) won its first ever Palio for the Contrada Capitana dell’Onda, with Oca finishing second. But there is no silver medal in the Palio. Oca finished in the worst position, “first loser”, so its rivals, the Torre, could take some solace in this humiliation; however, its unrecognized other rival, Onda, won (unrecognized because Onda considers Torre their rival, yet Torre refuses to acknowledge them), so all was certainly not well in Salicotto that evening.
The “ondaioli” (members of the Onda) crowded round their victorious horse and jockey (Brigante’s third Palio win) as others embraced and still more went to claim the prize, the Palio banner. This drappellone truly is a work of art, as the artist Giovanni Gasparri was able to produce a painting on silk worthy of any museum. But no matter its artistic merits, the “cencio” is now a part of the Onda, a new member of its family, tangible evidence that on only the 15th Palio ever run on the 4th of July, the Onda reigned supreme.
But what of this clearly invalid mossa? What’s done is done. The Mossiere was interviewed later that evening and admitted that the first mossa was better than the third, and that he had made a mistake. Other Captains of the Contrade expressed their dismay, and we needn’t get in to what was said in the other Contrade and/or on social media. What is clear is that the rincorsa must be taken more seriously; the Palio should not start between the ropes.
Ma anche tutto questo è Palio - all of this, too, is Palio. Unpredictable weather, 6 debut horses and 2 debut jockeys, more time for strategies than ever before, almost all rendered useless when the “non-mossa” was declared valid. But watching the replay you will appreciate the skill with which Brigante directed Tabacco, the most experienced horse in the Campo that day, and realize that no, this is not just a horse race, this is PALIO. La terra in Piazza - the earth in the square - to the Sienese their entire world is in the Piazza del Campo twice a year. The dirt will soon be gone, but it will be back in August, when we will do this all again. How utterly wonderful. Evviva il Palio, evviva Siena.
*The order in between the ropes is revealed minutes after the Contrade exit the Entrone. There is a bulbous flask with a long neck called the “fiasca” (“flask”), inside of which 10 marbles of equal size and weight are placed. They are swirled round and then the fiasca is turned upside down so that they line up in the neck, and then little windows reveal the order. This is done 3 times. The second and third envelopes each had Oca as the rincorsa; what a different Palio that would have been!
The order in between the ropes was:
Pantera 🐆: Enrico Bruschelli (Bellocchio) on Viso d’Angelo (C10)
Valdimontone 🐏: Jonatan Bartoletti (Scompiglio) on Ungaros (C11)
Nicchio 🐚: Elias Mannucci (Turbine) on Akida (F8)
Giraffa 🦒: Gabriele Puligheddu (Granito) on Ardeglina (F8)
Civetta 🦉: Federico Guglielmi (Tamurè) on Criptha (F6)
Lecorno 🦄: Sebastiano Murtas (Grandine) on Ares Elce (C8)
Bruco 🐛 Mattia Chiavassa (Tambani) on Brivido Sardo (C7)
Oca 🪿: Giovanni Atzeni (Tittia) on Veranu (C10)
ONDA 🐬: Carlo Sanna (BRIGANTE) on TABACCO (C12)
Lupa 🐺: Andrea Coghe (Tempesta) on Zenios (C9)
16 August 2023
16 August 2023: This was an incredible Palio - it truly had everything! A long and tense time in between the starting ropes, an odd mossa/start (but declared valid by the Mossiere, Bartolo Ambrosione), and Giraffa got off to a commanding lead. However, the jockey Tittia, gunning for his 6th consecutive win, took the first San Martino curve wide and crashed into the mattresses, falling off, injuring himself and the horse (who was immediately taken to the veterinary clinic; she was treated and is doing very well!). Then it looked as if Pantera had it in the bag, but somehow, the incredibly experienced jockey Scompiglio fell at the third San Martino. Now we know that the horse’s shoe had become dislodged during that long mossa; Pantera would have surely won otherwise. All this time, the Oca horse had been running without a jockey as Brigante fell off at the first San Martino! And then Torre was hot on Oca’s heals for the last straightaway and up into the last Casato curve, but then Carburo fell off too! Zio Frac won for Oca (he’s now 2 for 4) with Torre in a close second, but, as we know in Palio, this left Torre utterly humiliated, finishing as “first loser” to their rival. Jubilation for the ocaioli, who embraced each other in the Piazza and then processed the silk banner painted by Marco Lodola to the Cathedral to give thanks to the Virgin of the Assumption, to whom the race is dedicated. They then they took the banner home to their Oratory so that their patron saint, Catherine of Siena, could also behold the newest addition to their family, and the victors continued to process around the Piazza well into the wee hours of the night. “Nel Palio ci sta sempre tutto” - “in the Palio everything and anything is always possible”; this Palio was the perfect example of that! 🪿💚🤍❤️🪿
The 10 competing Contrade were:
Tartuca 🐢: Sebastiano Murtas (Grandine) on Schietta (F12)
Bruco 🐛: Enrico Bruschelli (Bellocchio) on Zenis (C8)
Chiocciola 🐌: Giuseppe Zedde (Gingillo) on Reo Confesso (C13)
OCA 🪿: Carlo Sanna (BRIGANTE) on ZIO FRAC (C8)
Pantera 🐆: Jonatan Bartoletti (Scompiglio) on Anda e Bola (C7)
Aquila 🦅: Valter Pusceddu (Bighino) on Viso d’Angelo (C9)
Torre 🐘: Giosuè Carboni (Carburo) on Tabacco (C11)
Drago 🐉 : Andrea Coghe (Tempesta) on Vitzichesu
Giraffa 🦒: Giovanni Atzeni (Tittia) on Abbasantesa (F7)
Istrice 🦔 (rincorsa): Federico Guglielmi (Tamuré) on Antine Day (C7)
(The order of the Contrade in between the starting ropes was determined by lot minutes before the race.)
Next August, the 7 Contrade who did not compete will run by right, and the remaining 3 will be chosen by lot after the 2 July Palio 2024.
Palio 2 July 2023
Il Palio è finito…and it was the quietest Palio day I can recall. I am still a newcomer to Siena (first Palio July 2010), so I will never be truly Sienese, but please believe me when I say that I feel these days down to my core. Today’s Palio went exactly as predicted, even though many held out hope for a different outcome. When the order between the starting ropes was announced, the two rivals were not in there together (Chiocciola was the rincorsa), and Selva received an optimal position. The outcome was certain, and it had already been written in the stars. The glorious Violenta da Clodia had #1 for the Tratta, #1 for the “ear number”, and was the first horse to be assigned by lot (1-1-1). She was given to the Contrada della Selva (Forest), and the reigning King of the Piazza, Giovanni Atzeni, (aka “Tittia”) of course wanted to ride her again, as they won together last August for the Leocorno (today marks his 5th victory in a row). I have more thoughts, but will read tomorrow’s papers, reflect, and hear what other contradaioli have to say.
Palio 17 August 2022
I seem to have lost my written analysis…so will just load up the video and include some pictures instead!
Palio 2 July 2022
As I’ve stated before, it’s going to take some time to fully process what happened during this Palio, and that means not just the final race, but the full 96 hours of Palio, plus the horse selections before that, and what the repercussions might be. As you can imagine, the Sienese have been discussing every aspect non-stop since it has finished, and outsiders have also made their thoughts and criticisms known. I am not Sienese, but I feel a passion for the Palio that I cannot adequately explain. I am fully aware that I am an outsider, but I do have some insight based on experience and research. That said, here is a summary of this year’s Palio di Provenzano.
Of the 102 horses eligible to run this Palio, 34 were presented the morning of 29 June at the event known as the ‘tratta’. All of the big names had already been excluded, which was a surprise to many. After the selection trials, the ten Captains of the ten competing Contrade chose the ten Palio horses, of which only two had ever run in the Campo before. Therefore after nearly three years since the last Palio, eight horses would make their debut on the tufo.
In the scorching heat later that day, the ten competing Contrade descended into the Campo, led by a person chosen by the Contrada to bring them good luck during the assignment of the horses. As always occurs, the horses were numbered 1 to 10. A page dressed in the black and white of Siena chose a capsule at random from a sort of bingo cage, handed it to the Mayor, who then read out the number. Then a second page selected a capsule from another bingo cage, handed it to the Mayor, who then read its contents - the name of the Contrada. Fairly straightforward, as in years past, but there was a strange sensation in the air; almost no Contrada showed much excitement about the horse they were given by Fate, as no one had much of an idea of what their horse was capable.
(NB: Palio horses must be at least 5 years old, mixed Anglo-Arabian, and they must have passed a rigorous set of tests by incredibly experienced veterinarians. They also must have practiced on a track that resembles the Campo, with its uneven elevation and two treacherous curves.)
Istrice and Pantera were pleased in that they received the only two experienced horses (Schietta, given to Istrice, nearly won in August 2019), and Chiocciola seemed rather excited at their prospects as well. After the assignment of the horses, the jockeys were hired, and strategy commenced. The first of six trials was run that evening, and things were looking as they should. The other trials didn’t go quite as smoothly, and on the day of the Palio, Istrice and Civetta were out. A Palio with just 8 Contrade and no rivals in the square was already an unusual situation (Lupa lost its rival, Istrice, and Leocorno lost theirs, Civetta), but then it became even more so.
On the morning of the Palio (2 July), after the blessing of the eight remaining horses in their respective Contrade, the Corteo Storico (Historical Parade) began, going along the traditional route to the Banca Monte dei Paschi and through the city streets to the Duomo and finally into the Campo. It was a glorious display, as it always is, yet the Civetta, in protest, refused to do the traditional flag routines. (That very morning, for the first time in Palio history, a Contrada protested the vets’ decision to pull the horse, delaying the final trial by half an hour.) When the Carroccio (war cart) with the Palio banner finally entered onto the tufo, contradaioli waved their fazzoletti (neck scarves) in desperate hope, and the moment of Palio was finally upon us.
Eight jockeys on eight mounts were given their ‘nerbo’ (whip) and made their way to the ‘mossa’, the starting and ending point of the race. Silence fell over the crowd as the envelope with the order of the Contrade between the ropes was announced, and Leocorno landed the ‘rincorsa’ position. When the rincorsa enters, the front rope is dropped, and if the start is declared valid by the ‘mossiere’ (the person in charge at the mossa), three laps are run at breakneck speed and victory is won in less than 90 seconds. False starts are to be expected, and the front rope is often dropped by the mossiere if the horses are pushing up against it and risk tripping. Yet today this happened one, two, three, four times…five…is that right? So many cannon fires to mark false starts no one could keep track.
And that’s not all.
The rincorsa bumped up against the ‘verrocchino’ and slightly injured its leg, and Leocorno went back to the Entrone of Palazzo Pubblico. Would it come back out? No? Now what? Would the second envelope with the order in between the ropes be revealed so we would start fresh? No. In a move that might be unprecedented (still need to do some research here, but at least in living memory this has never happened), the penultimate Contrada, Pantera, then became the rincorsa, and the horses lined up again.
But there’s more.
Bruco pushed up against the front rope and there appeared to be a delay by the mossiere in dropping the rope, resulting in the jockey being thrown off and immediately seen to by paramedics; he taken to hospital (he’ll have an operation in the coming days). Bruco was out; from ten to eight to SIX Contrade.
The Contrade realigned and Pantera went. The cannon didn’t fire and so this was - unfathomably but definitely (because the mossiere declared it so) - a valid mossa. Montone remained within the ropes, turned round and in disbelief. Drago set off to an impressive start with Pantera taking an early lead, only to be passed definitively by Drago at the first Casato. Torre was slightly turned round too and those few seconds it needed to recuperate cost it the race. Drago ran beautifully, but Torre’s run was almost more impressive, as the jockey was able to get the horse within inches of victory (making this the second Palio that Scompiglio lost to Tittia by a nose).
There are many more details to sort out, but this might give you an idea of this rather peculiar Palio, the first after Covid (although Covid still rages). Perhaps an imperfect Palio was inevitable after such a long time, and the collective stress and sadness we’ve all felt during these trying times were reflected on the tufo. Please know that the horses are all fine, but in Siena we might struggle to understand and accept all that has happened. Some might say that this is just Palio, but it feels different this time. All respect to the Contrada del Drago, and we wish them well in their victory celebrations, of course. But this Palio will go down in history for a number of reasons, and only time will tell what its effects truly are.
TL;DR: Only six Contrade competed in this Palio: Istrice and Civetta eliminated before the race (to protect the health of the horses); Leocorno taken out during the actual race due to a minor injury at the verrocchino (back rope support); Bruco taken out when the jockey was thrown off at the mossa (starting rope) and taken to hospital. All horses are fine. Drago won by mere inches after Torre made a spectacular effort. The end..?!
• Update (5 July 2022): The controversy continues, as fingers are being pointed and repointed, but the matter is so very complicated. The mayor will hold a press conference today. Contradaioli struggle to come to grips with all that has happened. I have read so many articles and social media posts and certainly do have some opinions, but these are best shared in person.
