Palii Straordinari – www.thepalio.eu

Initially, the third Palio was challenged to honor prominent guests during a visit to Siena. All that was needed was to send a request to the Grand Duke to organize another, preferably on a date near an “ordinary” one. Some Palii Straordinari also had an economic interest. In 1841 and 1842 2 palios with all 17 contrade were organized by some citizens and the owners of the stands on the Piazza.

Later, other associations also took the initiative to sponsor the organization of a Palio. Palios with scossi were organized, as well as some “palio alla romana”, in which the participating neighborhoods were divided into batterie with a final with the winners of the batterie at the end. The last one, in 1901, ended in a big fight, so the final was not even ridden.

In 1896 even 4 palios were ran, 2 ordinary and 2 straordinari. They wanted to do the same in 1913, but then the Palio alla sorpresa of August 17 was canceled because the ordinary of August 16 was delayed by the weather.

The palii a sopreso were an important novelty at the beginning of 1900. These races were invariably presented by associations from Siena. The formula to organize an extra palio the day after the course of August in which contrade, horses and fantini were drawn was very appealing. At the beginning of 1900, 6 straordinari were ran in a period of 17 years. Between 1928 and 1945 there was a break and none were organised.

The third Palio returned in 1945 when the people demanded an extra palio on the evening of the August 16th palio to celebrate the end of the war. After all, no palio was ran between 1940 and 1944. It was a big success.

In the following years, Siena became used to celebrate many 100-year birthdays with a straordinario. Every opportunity seemed good enough to furnish a Straordinario. At the end of the 1980s in Siena, people began to realize that a Palio Straordinario had become a risky venture for 3 reasons. First, the contrade could no longer cope financially. The costs, and especially the contracting of top riders, had completely got out of hand. A third Palio had become too much for the contrade budget. Secondly, the city was also a bit worried about the considerable costs of organization. Thirdly, Siena slowly but surely began to attract the negative interest of all kinds of animal protection organizations, which, incidentally, began to make inappropriate comparisons with the corrida. The media were very happy that a new big can of sensation had been opened and took a strong part in the polemics, never disturbed by any knowledge of the matter. As a result, the city council was faced with a third annual “defying fate”.

The last straordinario was disputed on October 20, 2018, to celebrate the end of the Great War 100 years earlier.

To date, no fewer than 48 Palii Straordinari have been driven. We are happy to list the 5 types:

“alla romana” : at first a few batterie are ridden with 3 or 4 contrade. The winners compeet in a final race
“cavalli scossi” : a palio without jockeys
“a sorpresa” : horse, contrade and jockey are to be drawn the day of the race
“all 17 contrade” : some of them were ridden with, other without fantino
all others were organised in the same way they organise Palios in july or august

Palio	Rem.	Contrada	Cavallo	Fantino
03/07/1712		Chiocciola	baio di Siena	Strega
02/07/1717		Torre	Gioia	Strega
01/05/1722		Tartuca	Belladonna	Strega
02/04/1739		Bruco	leardo	Pettinaio
04/10/1745		Pantera	baio scuro della Scala	Masino
14/05/1767		Torre	castagno del Ricci	Bastiancino
17/04/1791		Valdimontone	baio bruciato del Dei	Nacche
20/08/1804		Tartuca	sauro balzano del Ricci	Giuseppetto
14/05/1809		Torre	baio scuro del Manetti	Biggeri
04/06/1809	°¹	Tartuca	Rondinello	corso con cavalli scossi
19/08/1818		Istrice	castagno balzano del Falconi	Ferrino
30/03/1819		Civetta	morello del Chiarini	Caino
18/08/1839	¹	Pantera	cavallo del Bianchi	corso con cavalli scossi
17/08/1841	°	Nicchio	morello maltinto del Barbetti	Betto
18/08/1842	°	Istrice	Tosato	Saltatore
17/04/1860		Onda	morello stellino del Bandini	Figlio di Bonino
28/09/1862		Onda	morello del Franci	Bachicche
17/08/1875	²	Nicchio	storno del Pisani	Girocche
17/08/1876	²	Lupa	?	Leggerino
17/08/1884	¹	Valdimontone	Farfallina	corso con cavalli scossi
17/08/1887	¹	Aquila	Gigia	corso con cavalli scossi
18/08/1889	¹	Drago	baia zaino del Marchetti	corso con cavalli scossi
17/08/1890	²	Oca	Carbonello	Pirrino
17/08/1891	²	Oca	Farfallina	Tabarre
29/05/1893		Onda	baia marrone del Ramalli	Bozzetto
19/08/1894	²	Bruco	Belfortina	Fiammifero
16/08/1896	*	Bruco	baia stella in fronte del Vallesi	Fiammifero
23/09/1896		Istrice	Febo	Montieri
28/09/1902		Valdimontone	saura con fiore in fronte	Picino
17/04/1904		Leocorno	Primetta	Picino
18/08/1907	¹	Lupa	Gobba	corso con cavalli scossi
17/08/1909	³	Oca	Farfalla	Zaraballe
13/09/1910		Torre	Gobba	Moro
25/09/1913		Giraffa	sauro balzano del Socini	Testina
17/08/1919	³	Oca	Scodata	Testina
14/09/1928		Onda	Giacca	Sgonfio
20/08/1945		Drago	Folco	Rubacuori
18/05/1947		Civetta	Brillante	Il Biondo
28/05/1950		Valdimontone	Gaia	Ganascia
05/09/1954		Leocorno	Gaudenzia	Vittorino
04/09/1960		Civetta	Uberta de Mores	Ciancone
05/09/1961		Nicchio	Uberta de Mores	Vittorino
24/09/1967		Giraffa	Ettore	Tristezza
21/09/1969		Oca	Dragone	Aceto
17/09/1972		Istrice	Mirabella	Aceto
07/09/1980		Selva	Panezio	Bastiano
13/09/1986		Valdimontone	Brandano	Il Pesse
09/09/2000		Selva	Urban II	Il Pesse
20/10/2018		Tartuca	Remorex	Tempesta