TDN Weekend December 2016 Issue 9
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1021151
On the morning of the race itself, first glimpse of the jockeys can be had at the full open-air mass staged in front of the portico of the Palazzo Pubblico whose bell tower is the dominant feature of the square around which they will later hur- tle, clad in pyjama-like coloured livery to denote their particular contrada. This pi- azza that will later be packed with spec- tators is relatively quiet for now, with a small huddle of onlookers gathered to take communion with the jockeys. The solemnity of this process ahead of the July Palio of this year was momen- tarily broken as one fan spotted his hero. "Gigi, Gigi," shouts the young man and Lu- igi Bruschelli, one of the most successful jockeys of the modern era with 13 victo- ries to his name, breaks free from the Nic- chio (shell) captain to greet him. All smiles for a few moments, the face of Bruschelli, who is also a trainer, not just of horses but of jockeys too, darkens a little as one of his main rivals and former protégé, Giovanni Atzeni, appears for the jockeys' mass flanked by his own minders from the Oca (goose) contrada. Like his cousin An- drea who has made his name in the world of Thoroughbred racing, and many of the Palio jockeys, Atzeni is from the island of Sardinia and both he and Andrea spent time in Bruschelli's Sienese stable per- fecting the art of bareback riding. One final prova follows, but that is noth-