There was partying all night long in Siena last night, following the annual running of the Palio, the race held traditionally on July 2, the feast of La Madonna di Provenzano (and also on August 16, in honor of the Assumption). This year, bragging rights and one controversial drappellone go to the Contrada della Selva (Forest), whose horse stole a victory from Nicchio (Seashell), who was favored to win, and from Onda (Wave), whose horse led the race for almost two of the three laps around the Campo. Selva's horse was a gray known as Fedora Saura, who won the July 2 Palio in 2007, when I was in Siena for the summer as part of an NEH Summer Seminar, that time for Oca (Goose). You can see her at the beginning of the video embedded below, the gray stubbornly lining up parallel to the starting rope (rider in orange and green). Onda (in light blue and white) takes off to an early lead, with Nicchio (in dark blue and red) overtaking Onda to finish in second place, the worst possible outcome in the Palio.
In the first lap Leocorno's horse lost its jockey but, as they always do, continued to run. Unfortunately, the same horse took a later turn too close to the inner wall and fell, taking down Aquila (Eagle) and Giraffa (Giraffe). The result means that Lupa (She-Wolf) continues to endure the hated title of Nonna (grandmother) as the contrada that has gone the longest since winning a Palio (July 2, 1989), after Civetta (Little Owl) finally won last August.
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