A story, based on real events, about a boy and a half-Arabian mare who enter the Palio, an annual race in Siena, Italy, with all the pageantry of a medieval contest.

Each year since medieval times, the Palio horse race is held in Siena, Italy. Giorgio Terni is a starry-eyed young man who dreams of becoming a horse trainer and riding in the Palio.

Giorgio forges a relationship with a beautiful mare named Gaudenzia, and no one believes she will ever be anything more than a workhorse. But, Giorgio senses something great in her, and he’s determined to teach the mare to trust people again—and to become a winning racehorse.

This classic equestrian tale from Newbery Award–winning author Marguerite Henry features the original text and illustrations in a gorgeous collectible hardcover edition

"Each summer, in the ancient hill town of Siena, Italy, there erupts one of the most extraordinary, exciting, and dangerous horse races in the world -- the Palio. So furious is the rivalry that it is often said the Palio is more battle than race, and that 'Fate is the Queen of the Palio.'

This magnificent book is a true story of the Palio -- a thrilling, heart-stirring tale of a boy and a beautiful half-Arabian mare who won undying fame. Marguerite Henry tells -- as only she can -- how the life of Giorgio Terni, a boy of the Maremma marshes, became linked in strange and dramatic fashion with that of the cart horse Gaudenzia, whose Arabian blood brought her into the contest of the Palio.

When Gaudenzia is lamed in one of the wild races, it is Giorgio whose devoted care brings her back to health. And it is Giorgio who has the joy of riding her to victory in one Palio, and then the heartbreak of fighting her in the next. How he wins the title "Vittorino' and how Gaudenzia becomes the 'Pride of the Palio" make a story to enthrall the heart of every reader.

All the rich pageantry and medieval splendor that surround this race of Siena are captured in the text and Lynd Ward's glowing illustrations. In Gaudenzia, the swift excitement of King of the Wind and the warmth and human appeal of Misty of Chincoteague combine to make a glorious new favorite." (From the dust jacket flap)