News from Italy
Palio di Siena dell’Assunta, the Lupa district wins 2024
Due to the rain, the traditional race on August 16th was moved to today. Among the ten districts competing, Lupa, with jockey Dino Pes, known as Velluto, on the horse Benitos, won.
The Palio of Siena dedicated to the Madonna dell’Assunta took place today. The winner was the Lupa district, with jockey Dino Pes – known as Velluto – on the horse Benitos. For the Vallerozzi district, it is the thirty-eighth victory. The trophy is the Drappellone painted by the artist Riccardo Guasco.
The victory of Lupa, the jockey Dino Pes, known as Velluto, on the horse Benitos. For the Vallerozzi district, it is the thirty-eighth victory. Benitos, a seven-year-old chestnut gelding, won his first Palio as a rookie. The Contrada, with its black and white colours and orange stripes, has thus conquered the Drappellone designed by the artist Riccardo Guasco, known as Rik. It was a very tense career, due to the rivalries between pairs of Contrade, and the valid move arrived after about 45 minutes, with six exits from the ropes called by the mover and two false moves. La Lupa then triumphed, remaining in the lead for all three laps of Piazza del Campo, from Mossa to the finish. The progress of Selva, Oca and Chiocciola was of no avail, as they never caught up with Benitos. The previous Palio della Madonna di Provenzano in July had been won by the Contrada dell’Onda, with the horse Tabacco and the jockey Carlo Sanna known as Brigante.
As per tradition, on August 16th, everything was ready for the race in Piazza del Campo, but the heavy rain forced the organisers and authorities to decide to move the Career. Also, due to rain, this year, the Palio on July 2 was postponed twice: it is a rare event in the same year we see the postponement of both Palios due to bad weather, the last time it happened in 1869. The previous delay due to bad weather of the race on August 16th alone dates back to 2022. Lousy weather forced two postponements in last July’s Palio, and the race was held on July 4th.
There are 17 districts of Siena, but those that participated in the Palio are 10 7 by right (Selva, Lupa, Valdimontone, Onda, Nicchio, Leocorno and Civetta), and 3 were drawn by lot in July (Chiocciola, Oca and Istrice ). The winner, Lupa, the first to complete the three laps of Piazza del Campo, will receive the Drappellone painted by the artist Riccardo Guasco as a prize. In the assignment of horses, the only horse already victorious in Piazza del Campo went to the Selva district: Tabacco, who had been triumphant with Onda and the jockey Brigante in the career of 2 July this year. Horses considered among the strongest, respectively Veranu, Viso D’Angelo and Ares Elce were awarded to the contrada people of Valdimontone, Istrice and Oca. But in the end, the debutant Benitos triumphed with the Lupa. The other assignments were Zentiles to Leocorno, Brivido Sardo to Nicchio, Zenis to Civetta, Canarinu to Onda, and Comancio to Chiocciola. As for the jockeys, the Selva district fielded Andrea Sanna, the Lupa won with Dino Pes, known as Velluto; Valdimontone had Jonatan Bartoletti known as Scompiglio; Onda with Sebastiano Murtas, known as Grandine, the Nicchio district with Federico Guglielmi known as Tamurè, Leocorno with Elias Mannucci known as Turbine, Civetta with Enrico Bruschelli known as Bellocchio, Chiocciola with Giuseppe Zedde known as Gingillo, Oca had Carlo Sanna known as Brigante as a jockey, Istrice had Giovanni Atzeni known as Tittia.