Borgo Durbecco won the 25th Bigorda d’Oro Tournament with jockey Enrico Gnagnarella as in 2022 on Princesse del Rio, 7 year old thoroughbred bay mare. The 26-year-old knight fulfilled his dream of winning a knightly joust in the city of ceramics after having been a good drummer in the same Porta delle Chiavi district in past years.
Gnagnarella won 7 of the 8 single combat challenges, leaving behind in the order the only debutant, the 16 year old Davide Ricci (Rione Giallo, on Ramona Danzig), and the 39 year old from Tarquinia Daniele Leri (Rione Rosso, on Vanilla Cream) both with 4 victories, then the 28 year old Stefano Venturelli (Rione Verde, on Guaderiann) with 3 successes and the 47-year-old Alberto Liverani (Rione Nero, on Doublethink) who boasts 10 victories in Italian knightly jousts, with 2 successes on the Bigorda evening.
Photo galleryBorgo Durbecco won the 25th Bigorda d’Oro Tournament
The sign of victory
The chivalric joust reserved for young and emerging knights, which returned after the cancellation in 2023 in flooded Faenza and designed to be preparatory to the noble Palio del Niballo which this year will be staged on Sunday 23 June, did not disappoint the expectations of over 3,700 spectators present at the competition field, the “Bruno Neri” municipal stadium, traditionally used by football for the two historic knightly jousts of Niballo.
Uncertainty reigned until the middle of the fifth and final series of single combat challenges, when Messer Ricci as a challenger on the left track was defeated by Leri from Rione Rosso, thus allowing the residents of Borgo Durbecco to celebrate the victory before the last round was staged, that of the Rione Giallo against the Borgo.
The losers
Even in the role of the defeated, the supporters of the Yellow and Red districts can say they are satisfied, effectively tied with four victories in the 20 single combat challenges, but with a ranking outlined as per the regulations by the direct clashes: the young student Davide Ricci is a good perspective for the future of the Porta Ponte district. The Rione Rosso will perhaps have to make different assessments: in the previous edition of the Bigorda d’Oro, that of 2022, it had hired the valid duo of Daniele Leri and his mare Brenda Maisa to replace the then injured titular rider; this time the jockey from Tarquinia rode the 8-year-old thoroughbred bay mare Vanilla Cream owned by the Rione, confirming himself in third place; the thought of Porta Imolese, who has also found a perfect understanding with Leri, could go to one of his young players from Faenza to grow.
The Rione Verde cannot be happy, given as favorite in the predictions of the day before together with the rival of the Borgo, nor the Rione Nero which instead had partially foreseen a final rearguard position, despite the experience and commitment of Liverani, who had at his disposal a Doublethink not up to the standard of the other competing horses and without being able to count on Zorzittu for a few days.
The risk of bad weather and delays
On the knightly tournament of the Bigorda d’Oro 2024, the risk of postponement to Sunday hovered until an hour and a half before the start due to some threatening clouds hanging over Faenza, then, once the danger had passed, the program had its regular start just two minutes after the scheduled 9pm. Unfortunately, the challenges between the knights started at 10.24pm instead of the now consolidated 10pm, due to various delays that accumulated in the various phases that preceded the joust which the team will have to investigate. excellent organization of the Palio Office of the Municipality of Faenza with the Municipal Group, historical entity of the Niballo events led for years by the Regent Marino Baldani, without which nothing could be done.
The experts have new faces
With the announcement of the start of the contest, at 10.23pm the new Podestà of the Giostra, Cristian Malavolti, made his debut, revealing himself to be attentive and competent, having certainly capitalized on a good past as a knight for the Rione Verde; even with Nicola Solaroli, Maestro di Campo as such also at his debut, the events of the Niballo of Faenza can feel like they are in an iron barrel.
The prospectus of the 5 rounds
All travel times and individual winners at the end of the article.
Balance up to a certain point
The joust of chivalry had essentially a balanced trend, even more than the predictions, until the completion of the third series of challenges; Borgo Durbecco made the most of the fourth series of rounds when it found itself challenging the other four: having lost the first to Yellow, it won the remaining three, bringing it to 6 “shields”, against 3 for Yellow and Red and the 2 of Green and Black.
Mocking lights
But on the sixteenth round, the fourth of the fourth series, an unexpected event had to occur: with Gnagnarella who was challenging Leri, while the horses were completing their respective turns and then appeared on the final straight where the technological fantoggio of Niballo stands out in the center with the arms/targets wide open to hit, the group of artificial lighting located above the tower flanking the central stand at the entrance to the stadium suddenly went out. The total shutdown, due to the triggering of the “protection” probably triggered by the heat, put the Rione Rosso and Vanilla Cream jockey in difficulty as they found themselves passing right under the “cone” at that less illuminated point.
Daniele Leri kept the mare under control and aimed at the target, but did not hit it, while his rival from Borghi took home the “shield”. Rosso, after some consultations between the district chief, the knight, the stable manager and the grooms, asked for explanations and a decision from the Podestà and Camp Master to obtain “reparation” for the damage suffered. Having ascertained that the headlights of the south-west tower would be turned back on within a quarter of an hour, the Track Commission together with Malavolti and Solaroli decreed that the lighting conditions of the competition field were acceptable even with the group still switched off, validated the sixteenth round with the success of the Borgo and made the Bigorda continue with the fifth series of challenges which started at 10.55pm.
It became clear to most that the Red Rione had suffered damage: the repetition, in some ways logical, of the round with the challenging Borgo, if won, could have changed the outcome of the knightly joust. However, it must be kept in mind that the Regulations of the Palio del Niballo, and therefore of the Bigorda, take into account many things: in that situation, Daniele Leri, having noticed the sudden change in track conditions to his detriment, should have raised the throw and not equally aim at the target in a sort of “announcement of complaint”. For this reason, the understandable complaint of the Red District chief Gianluca Maiardi was not accepted.
In the fifth series of challenges, the Yellow Rione, after having won the first, lost the remaining three until the defeat against the Red which decreed the success of Borgo Durbecco, or Rione Bianco as many still call the part of Faenza to the right of the river Lamon.
The words of the winner
“This victory is the result of great team work – said the winning rider Enrico Gnagnarella, who has dedicated himself to the Borgo stable and horses for six years -; I have to thank every person who worked with me in the stable all year, starting with Alfiero Capiani, who really improved me as a rider, and all the guys who supported me, my family, Alice, all the people who supported me stay close. Each of them was indispensable. During the Bigorda I was afraid of Davide Ricci (the 16-year-old knight from the Rione Giallo: ed.): when he stole the first shield from my right (in the first round of the fourth series of challenges: ed.) I thought: you’ll see, Ramona Danzig gives me a… lower back again this year; then in the end I prevailed. Princesse de Rio went very strong: she is a particular mare; we have to work hard during the year and then, in the race, we arrive.”
But there’s more…
Borgo Durbecco practically won by hand: in fact it took home the ceramic “bigorda” (the lance-shaped trophy) with the golden tip by the artist Romano Cortesi assigned to the winning district, the horse’s head in ceramic gift from the Pro Loco of Faenza reserved for the winning rider, who will also be able to boast of a fine chronograph offered by Gioielleria Baravelli having set the best time in the round (12 seconds and 725 thousandths) on the right track at the first of the third series of challenges by beating the challenger Daniele Leri del Rosso on Vanilla Cream.
At Borgo Durbecco the Palio Deputation (the three experts who supervise the historicity of the Niballo events) also awarded the ceramic plate full of sweet tortelli offered by the Bakers’ Union of Confcommercio Faenza to the best group of young people of the historical walk (25 children well directed by the instructors, good at testifying to the historicity of the games and the originality of the proposed theme), this year held inside the “Neri” stadium as well as the entire event including the oath of loyalty to the respective districts of the five knights and all the awards.
25th Bigorda d’Oro: knights, horses and shields conquered
1st VILLAGE DURBECCO 7
Enrico Gnagnarella
Princesse de Rio
2ND YELLOW DISTRICT 4
Davide Ricci
Ramona Danzig
3RD RED DISTRICT 4
Daniele Leri
Vanilla Cream
4th GREEN DISTRICT 3
Stefano Venturelli
Guaderrian
BLACK 5TH WARD 2
Alberto Liverani
Doublethink
Overview of the 5 laps with track travel times
1st SERIES OF CHALLENGES 10.24pm
BLACK (13”892) – GREEN (———) Black
BLACK (14”045) – RED (13”322) Red
BLACK (———) – BORGO (12”914) Borgo
BLACK (14”098) – YELLOW (———) Black
2nd SERIES OF CHALLENGES 10.45pm
GREEN (12”836) – RED (12”862) Green
GREEN (13”106) – VILLAGE (12”774) Borgo
GREEN (13”128) – YELLOW (12”919) Yellow
GREEN (13”268) – BLACK (13”784) Green
3rd SERIES OF CHALLENGES 11.06pm
RED (———) – BORGO (12”725) Borgo
RED (13”140) – YELLOW (13”019) Yellow
RED (13”292) – BLACK (13”649) Red
RED (12”885) – GREEN (13”133) Red
4th SERIES OF CHALLENGES 10.26pm
BORGO (13”140) – YELLOW (13”072) Yellow
BORGO (12”952) – BLACK (———) Borgo
VILLAGE (12”799) – GREEN (———) Borgo
BORGO (12”841) – RED (———) Borgo
5th SERIES OF CHALLENGES 10.55pm
YELLOW (13”079) – BLACK (13”419) Yellow
YELLOW (———) – GREEN (12”911) Green
YELLOW (13”382) – RED (12”905) Red
YELLOW (13”588) – BORGO (12”940) Borgo
Photo shoot by Gianni Zampaglione
