3 minute read

The Palio in Siena is always excitement plus and this year's August edition was no exception.

There was a tearaway leader from the start – the Giraffe – but he bounced into a corner and that was that.  Then the Oca (Goose) took over only to slip on one of the corners and lose his rider but the horse, Zio Frac, was running in his fourth palio and he had won one of the previous runnings so he knew what to do.  He was being chased for the lead by the Tower until he too came to grief and that left the way clear for Zio Frac to win the race for the Oca contrada (ward) even though he didn't have a jockey on board.

There had been a very heavy thunderstorm during the week and two of the trials were cancelled.  They then had to repair the damage to the "tufa" – the special surface that is laid down over the cobbles to provide a track and it is possible that there were a couple of spots that were slippery as we don't recall so many horses slipping and dislodging their jockeys.  Fortunately all seem to be OK.