The Palio is an event that is well celebrated in Italy and beyond. It is one of the numerous annual events which take place in the country. From around the world, people fly all the way to witness the exciting event – a horse racing competition that by the time everything is over,
talks and snapshots would have been exchanged from various ends of the field. The Palio horse racing event is a tourism attraction for Italy and people do eagerly look forward to this enthralling occasion which comes up only once a year. The Palio is also a money spinning sport for the tourism industry whereby targets are sometimes exceeded due to fervent patronage from members of the public as well as tourists and visitors to the country. Some days before the main event holds, people would have already been preparing in various ways. From people who are buying costumes for that special day to those who would be taking good advantage of the occasion to make quick returns on any goods or services they are offering. The Palio is kick-started with a string of fun and fanfare activities that help to propel it to the front burner of all events across the country.
To make the main event worth attending, there are usually parades and processions which are held to prepare the ground. If you are coming to witness the Palio, you will meet people from different cultures from various countries of the world. They all come together in Italy to be a part of the fun band. The horse race event provides a perfect opportunity to make new friends and to learn new things about the popular Italian event. The Palio horse race is an event whereby non-rider horse races are done each summer. The horse race is normally held in Piazza del Campo shortly after the march is completed. The Palio is a cool sport for both the spectators and players especially for the latter. Palio is somehow cruel when seen from the way the race is done. The main protagonists of the racing game are the horses which continue to race and may eventually win too; even if in the course of the race, they lose their jockeys by mistake. For those who don’t know much about the game, the peculiar thing about Palio is that the entire race only lasts for just about 5 minutes as they all circle round the Piazza del Campo.
For them to get acquainted with the major phases of the Palio horse race, four days will have to be set aside for the celebration. It is important to know that out of seventeen contrade, only ten will run each time and their participation in the race is usually decided by a draw. The draw is a pre-event which takes place at least twenty days before the Palio race is arranged to be held. Seven of the contrade that didn’t run in the race of that day are entitled to run while the other three contrade are picked from the first ten that did participate. The draft is the means used to allot the ten contrade who take part in the Palio horse race. The third day, on the morning before the race takes place, the racing horses are presented one after the other by their owners, the presentation is done in the courtyard of the Municipality Town Hall. Here, they are well examined by veterinarians who have been delegated to evaluate the physical conditions and morphology of the racing horses. These horses are first put into a number of groups for trial purposes. They are then tested for only three laps so that they can be evaluated for their suitability to the racing tracks.
After the trial runs, the captains come together before the Mayor in order to decide which horses will be best for the racing. There are usually six trials which all take place at nine every morning and evening around seven in the evening. After the Parade, there is a big ball of canon fire that signifies the jockeys’ departure. Every jockey is given a horse whip to incite his horse so as to ignite a forward response. The jockey uses these strategies to block other opponents during the course of the race. Before the actual race begins, the starter opens the race with the lowering of the rope. The start is considered not valid if the cracker goes off and stops the horses to be re-started. The horses and their jockeys have to run round the tracks thrice, for a total of about a thousand meters. The first horse to finish the race is declared the winner and is thus approved by 3 winners’ judges. There is a victory dinner that is usually held for the winning horse and contrada. The Palio horse race is a lovely sporting event that should not be missed if you are going to Italy around the time the event is held.
