30/09/2026

The 2026 Palio dell'Assunta was run in Siena on Tuesday 18 August, after two consecutive postponements due to rain. The race was won by the Contrada del Nicchio, with jockey Giovanni Atzeni, known as Tittia, riding Anda e Bola. What took place in Piazza del Campo was, once again, suffering presented as tradition.

An hour between the ropes

The mossa, the start, lasted more than an hour, with three false starts and the contrade repeatedly called out from between the starting ropes. The footage broadcast by La7 shows jockeys pulling hard and repeatedly on the reins, acting on the horses' mouths through the bits. One horse reared up until it flipped over.

For sixty minutes, animals already exposed to the noise of the square, the crowd and the stress of two days of postponements were held in a state of constant physical and psychological tension. Horses do not choose to be there. They do not know the rules of the race or the meaning of the celebration. They are brought there for the show.

The fall after the finish line

Just past the finishing post, as Atzeni raised his whip in victory, horse and jockey collided with people who had already run onto the track to celebrate, and both fell. The horse got back up. The jockey lay motionless on the track, was carried off on a stretcher and taken to Santa Maria alle Scotte hospital with a head injury. Anda e Bola was examined by veterinarians and declared in good condition. We formally asked the Municipality of Siena for updates on his condition, to no avail. According to Il Messaggero, 24 people received medical assistance during the Palio, seven of whom were taken to hospital.

Censorship on live TV

During La7's live broadcast, at the moment of the fall the director cut away and the commentary made no mention of it. In those minutes, no one could know the condition of a fallen horse and a man lying motionless on the ground. The silence was no oversight: it was an editorial choice, one that put protecting the event's image ahead of information.

It is the same silence that surrounds the horses at every edition. What happens to them between the ropes, on the bends and after the race stays out of the story. This is the Palio's omertà, towards animals and towards people. The Palio is not tradition: it is legalised torture, and it must be abolished.

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Palio di Siena, injured horse. The City Council says "he's fine". But the footage raises questions