The Palio
by Mark Kershaw
We pass through spectacular Tuscan countryside for the last few kilometres to our hotel Castel Monestero. The arrival is stunning, a large arch leads into an enormous courtyard.
The rooms are varied and scattered around the main buildings and grounds. We all meet up for dinner on the first night in the Contrada, a Michelin one star restaurant, multi-course with superb service.
Friday morning, following an excellent breakfast was mainly spent by the pool or rather by one of the three pools and bar. Following a light lunch we had an instructive wine tasting in the old cellar, which is also the second, more relaxed, restaurant.
At 6.30 pm we boarded a coach with some of the other guests from the hotel and headed to Siena for the pre-race dinner with the Contrada Valdimonte. Each of the ten Contradas with a runner in the Palio hosts a dinner. We were glad to get to our table, after a rather long walk through the streets of Siena. It was worth the walk, our table of fifty was just one of many, 1500 diners in all. Many speeches from our hosts and even from the jockey. After a long great evening, we eventually arrived back at hotel after midnight.
“Sotto il mio colpo la muraglia crolla” is the motto of the Contrada Valdimonte that hosted our dinner on the eve of the Palio Di Sienna. “Under my blow the wall collapses” rather summed up the way their rider approached the race itself. Indeed, the amount of jiggery pokery at the start would have had the whole field disqualified at home.
The race itself is the culmination of hours of pageantry reflecting the history of a race that was first held in the Piazza del Campo on July 2nd, 1652. Each participating Contrada (district), that is represented, march through the streets of Sienna in historical costumes. They are accompanied by flag wavers, drummers, men in suits of armour and various other assorted followers. They then make their way with the other nine Contradas to the main square.
There then follows a noisy parade including the racehorses themselves. Once everyone has paraded the racetrack is cleared and the final spectators make their way to middle of the racecourse. The infield is reputed to hold some 30,000 people. Then there is hush as the ten jockeys on horseback enter the stadium and the draw is announced. The riders line up in front of a thick rope, no starting stalls here! For the next forty minutes the jockeys of the horses drawn one to nine, riding bareback try to outmanoeuvre each other to get the best staring position. The tenth horse starts at a canter from behind. By all accounts, the jockeys use the time to try and bribe one another to block a rival’s horse as well as hit each other with their whips. Suddenly the race starts and what a spectacle, great horsemanship around the unbelievably tight bends, and suddenly it is all over (90 seconds). There was one faller this year, both horse and jockey all right. The race can be won by a riderless horse.
Incidentally, the winner Anda e Bola was owned by two members of The Turf Club in London. Matthew (known locally in Siena as “Il Cappo” and Theo Westerman.
Our hotel the Castel Monastero, on a beautiful Tuscany hillside outside of Siena, was superb. Everything worked very smoothly, nobody got left off the coach! However, the only downside was the very long walk from the coach park to both the dinner and the Palio. If you are spending more than a couple of nights at the hotel, a car is definitely required to properly enjoy the beauty and history of the area.
Racing Breaks had put together a great trip, unforgettable.