This year’s August Palio will be remembered as one of the most surprising and twisty Palii of Siena’s recent history. And thus, as one of the most interesting. In July’s race (there are two Palii every year), the victorious horse immediately shot ahead of the pack and maintained its lead for the entire 90-second competition. This August race could not have been more different.
To understand the dynamics of the Palio, it is important to know about some of its idiosyncrasies. For example: the order of the racing horses is selected the moment right before the race begins, conferring great advantage to some contenders (typically the first chosen, who take their place on the interior flank of the circular track) and disadvantage to others. The final horse to be chosen is in the most particular and also disadvantaged position—the so-called rincorsa. This horse does not line up with the others, but rather takes its place behind them. When it decides to enter the track, the race will officially begin—a final nod to the supremacy of chance and luck in the Palio, as some horses will be better prepared than others for the start in any precise moment.
The running order is also important because it determines each contender’s neighbors. The Palio is run by the contrade, or neighborhood communities, of Siena, and most of them are engaged in very tight rivalries with another contrada, meaning it is as much a priority for their rival to lose as it is for them to win. If two rivals are lined up next to each other at the starting line, they will bicker and try to put each other at a disadvantage, often weakening both their positions. This year, such was the case for the Panther and Eagle contrade, two rivals that are perhaps principally responsible for the 40-minute wait before the Palio began, as they kept falling out of position.
One of the definite favorites, the Giraffe contrada, was ninth in order. This meant that, while it was at a disadvantage for being the farthest from the inner part of the circle, it had the advantage of being far from the bickering and confusion of the other contrade. No ropes or dividers separate horses from each other in the Piazza.
And so, the Giraffe got a clean start when the Palio finally began, trailing ahead of the others; for a second it seemed as though this Palio would be a repeat of the linear affair we had already seen in July, with one single horse maintaining the advantage throughout the race. Indeed, the Giraffe’s jockey had won in July, and had also won the four Palii preceding it.
This year’s protagonist, however, was not this famous jockey Tittia, but rather the infamous San Martino curve of the Piazza, known for its sharpness and the tendency of horses and jockeys to crash into it and fall. And just so did the Giraffe crash and fall, on only its first time around, when it was in the lead. The race’s first big upset.
The Panther contrada, another favorite despite its rival’s presence, mounted by one of today’s most talented jockeys, immediately claimed the lead itself. The Panther has not won in 18 years, a long time, and their victory seemed all but assured for the following two rounds of the Piazza.
Until the second upset. During the last loop around San Martino, the Panther’s horse dramatically fell behind, taking it out of the race, and ending any of the contrada’s dreams.
The finish line was now very close, and in the scramble among the remaining horses, two emerged ahead: the rivals Goose and Tower. The Goose’s horse, Zio Frac, was the only contending horse to have already won a Palio. In this race, before anyone was paying attention, the Goose’s jockey had fallen at the first San Martino on the heels of the Giraffe, but its horse had raced on. In Siena’s Palio, the horse, not the jockey, determines a victory. The last seconds of the Palio saw the Tower’s desperate attempts to overtake the Goose. But it was not to be. Zio Frac closed in on the Tower and knocked the jockey off his horse before securing a victory for its contrada.
The Goose last won in 2013, and it had not raced for the last four years due to Covid and a disqualification for inappropriate behavior in 2019. As the Goose’s neighborhood in Siena ballooned with people, singing, and wine, it is safe to say that these years of abstinence have been quite forgotten. They had prevailed, though this Palio had given them no guarantees. As one contrada member put it, “this August gave many contrade a momentary chance to dream.”
