Frankie Dettori and co witness the Palio - the most chaotic race in the world

Leading Flat jockeys Frankie Dettori, Andrea Atzeni and Jamie Spencer were among the thousands to witness the sheer mayhem that is the Palio di Siena in Italy on Tuesday evening.

With Dettori set to partner Enable on her return in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown on Saturday, John Gosden would be pleased to know his jockey was not partaking in the traditional event that stretches back to medieval times.

The Palio Di Siena was inaugurated in 1633 and features ten horses that represent the neighbourhoods of Siena.

The race does not take place on turf or synthetics but is staged on packed sand in the city's central square, with racing rules going out the window in the contest that attracts spectators from around the world.

Riders are free to barge and interfere as they like and even use their whip – made out of stretched ox penises (yes, you read that right) –on other jockeys. And it is the horse, not the rider, who wins the Palio di Siena, so much so that riderless horses have won several renewals.

This year's running was won by the Giraffe Contrada.

A cauldron of noise precedes the race and intensifies as the evening goes on in what can only be described as the world's most chaotic contest.

Dettori and co will find much calmer waters when returning to the saddle in Britain, no more so than for Atzeni and Spencer, who are both in action at Kempton on Wednesday evening.

Read Tom Kerr's account of brawls, bribery and bedlam at last year's Palio

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