锡耶纳赛马节
現今的比賽

第一場比賽於7月2日舉行，既是聖母訪親盛宴，也是當地節日普羅旺斯諾麥當娜的日期。第二場比賽是8月16日舉行的，是聖母盛宴之後的第二場比賽。在特殊事件（例如，阿波羅11號登陸）和重要紀念日（例如義大利統一百週年）之後，西南社區可能決定在5月至9月期間舉行第三次比賽。最近一次是在千禧年（西元2000年）。
比賽僅有十個隊伍，所以並非所有分區皆能上場比賽。去年未參賽的七個分區將優先進入比賽名單，再用抽籤決定其餘三隊。（每年有兩次，分別於五月底及七月初）。
在預備賽結束一年後，私人業主（其中包括一些騎師）為義大利其他賽馬節提供馬廄以供挑選並聘請獸醫為馬匹檢查身體狀況，於比賽前三天決定十個規模相等的馬廄，並以彩票決定哪一批馬代表其分區出賽。將會舉辦六場預備賽用以選擇馬匹，第一場將於傍晚舉行，最後一場則結束於賽馬節開始前的早晨。比賽期間經常生賄賂的情形，促使各分區的選手走會密切注意對手的一舉一動。僅允許雜種馬上場比賽，不能使用純種馬。
The race is preceded by a spectacular pageant, the Corteo Storico（英语：）, which includes (among many others) Alfieri, flag wavers, in medieval costumes. Just before the pageant, a squad of carabinieri on horseback, wielding swords, demonstrate a mounted charge（英语：） around the track. They take one lap at a walk, in formation, and a second at a gallop that foreshadows the excitement of the race to come, before exiting down one of the streets that leads out of Piazza del Campo. Spectators arrive early in the morning, eventually filling the centre of the town square, inside the track, to capacity; the local police seal the entrances once the festivities begin in earnest. Seats ranging from simple bleacher（英语：）s to elaborate box seats（英语：） may be had for a price, but sell out long before the day of the race.
在比賽之前有個壯觀的盛會，古裝遊行（英语：），其中包括（在許多其他人中）Alfieri，旗幟揮舞，在中世紀的服裝。 就在賽前，卡賓槍騎兵隊揮舞著劍，在賽道周圍表演衝鋒。 他們步行一圈，形成一秒鐘，另外一個賽道，預示著比賽的興奮，然後退出了出自Piazza del Campo的一條街道。 觀眾清晨到達，最終填補了城市廣場的中心，在軌道內，容納; 一旦慶祝活動開始，當地警方就會密封入口。 從簡單的長椅到精心製作的座椅座椅的座位可能有一個價格，但在比賽當天很久才賣出。
七月賽馬節的下午七點半及八月賽馬節的下午七點，爆炸聲響徹整個廣場，向成千上萬的圍觀者通報了比賽即將開始。比賽將會繞著田野廣場奔跑三圈，the perimeter of which is covered with several inches of dirt and tuff (imported and laid for the occasion at great expense to the city) and the corners of which are protected with padded crash barriers for the occasion. The jockeys ride the horses bareback from the starting line, an area between two ropes. Nine horses, in an order only decided by lot immediately before the race starts, enter the space. The tenth, the rincorsa, waits outside. When the rincorsa finally enters the space between the ropes the starter (mossiere) activates a mechanism that instantly drops the canapo (the front rope). This process (the mossa) can take a very long time, as deals have usually been made between various contrade and jockeys that affect when the rincorsa moves - he may be waiting for a particular other horse to be well- or badly-placed, for example.
在危險的，陡峭的斜坡軌道上，騎士被允許使用他們的鞭子（義大利語， nerbi，拉伸的，乾公牛皮）不僅為自己的馬，而且為了擾亂其他馬和騎士。事實上，是由代表他的對手的馬贏得的，而不是騎師。 獲勝者是穿過終點線的第一匹馬 - 一匹馬可以沒有騎手贏得勝利（一種被稱為cavallo scosso的條件）。 一匹馬也可以沒有它的裝飾頭飾（spennacchiera），雖然相反的信念也被廣泛地持有，甚至在塞內加爾人之間。 比賽中的失敗者被認為是馬匹是第二，而不是最後的對手。
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The winner is awarded a banner of painted silk, or palio, which is hand-painted by a different artist for each race. The enthusiasm after the victory, however, is so extreme that the ceremony of attribution of the palio is quite instantaneous, being the first moment of a months-long celebration for the winning ward. There are occasional outbreaks of violence between partisans of rival contrade.
There may be some danger to spectators from the sheer number of people in attendance. There have also been complaints about mistreatment of horses, injuries and even deaths, especially from animal-rights associations and even from some veterinarians. In the Palio held on 16 August 2004, the horse for the contrada of Bruco (the Caterpillar) fell and was badly trampled, as the race was not stopped despite possible additional safety risks for other horses. The horse died of its injuries, raising further complaints from animal-rights organizations.
The Palio differs from "normal" horse races in that part of the game is for the wards to prevent rival contrade from winning. When a contrada fails to win, its historical enemy will celebrate that fact nearly as merrily as a victory of its own, regardless of whether adversarial interference was a deciding factor. Few things are forbidden to the jockeys during the race; for instance, they can pull or shove their fellows, hit the horses and each other, or try to hamper other horses at the start.
The most successful ward is Oca, the Goose, which has won 63 races (at least according to their records, which start from 1644), followed by Chiocciola, the Snail, with 51, and Tartuca, the Tortoise, with 46. Oca is also the contrada with the most wins in recent history (from 1900 to 2010) with 21 victories, followed by Selva, the Forest, with 18, and Drago, the Dragon, with 17.
Among jockeys, the most victorious of all time is Andrea Degortes（英语：）, nicknamed Aceto ('Vinegar'), with 14 wins (from 1964 to 1996). Angelo Meloni, nicknamed Picino (active from 1897 to 1933) has the second in the number of wins with 13 successes, and Luigi Bruschelli, nicknamed Trecciolino（英语：） (still active), has the third most of 12 wins (although he claims 13 victories, his horse won without him one year).
The most successful horses were Folco and Panezio with eight wins each, followed by Topolone with seven.
In recent history (from 1900 to the present), only three wards have ever succeeded in winning both the July and the August races in a single year (the term in Italian is fare cappotto).  Tartuca (the Tortoise) accomplished the feat in 1933, while Giraffa (the Giraffe) won both races in 1997, with jockey Giuseppe Pes, nicknamed Il Pesse.  In 2016, jockey Jonatan Bartoletti, on the mount "Preziosa Penelope", won both the July and August races for Lupa (the She-wolf).