Palio di Siena legendary: Goose wins over Tower, both without jockey

Three incredible laps ended with two shaken horses in front of everyone and belonging to two bitter rival contrade.

Palio dell’Assunta 2023 that goes to the Noble Contrada dell’Oca, in an August 16 that Siena will find very difficult to forget. In fact, the contrada of Fontebranda, dry of successes for four years, managed to prevail over the Torre in a duel to the last corner between the contrade divided by perhaps the most heated rivalry in the city. What is special, however, is that both horses crossed the finish line shaken. Without, therefore, their respective jockeys. In addition, two other jockeys ended up on the ground when it seemed that the Palio was now in their hands.

After a very complex shake-up, the run-up Porcupine entered the field allowing the Giraffe to take a colossal lead already after the first turn. Already on the second, at San Martino, resoundingly the experienced Giovanni Atzeni (that Tittia who had won the last five editions of the Palio di Siena) crashed on the guards tumbling to the ground and also causing the jockey of the Goose, Carlo Sanna aka Brigante, who was following in fourth position, to fall.

This allowed Panther to take a colossal lead over everyone else, with Bruco and Torre chasing. In fourth place was Uncle Frac, the shaken horse of the Goose. At the last San Martino, however, incredibly, the young horse Anda e Bola stumbled and ended up on the ground in turn, dragging with him that Jonatan Bartoletti a.k.a. Scompiglio winner in turn three times in a row of the Cencio (between 2016 and 2017). Ahead of all was then Zio Frac, with Joshua Carboni known as Carburo just a few paces behind and chasing an impossible recovery with one turn to go. The Goose’s horse then withstood the last attack, dropping Carburo to the ground as well and giving his contrada a victory that will go down in Siena legend.