Leviste sees high hopes with new mount, mentor

With reigning Asian Games gold medalist Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski out of the roster, Toni Leviste admits the pressure to spearhead Team Philippines’ gold medal bid in the Asian Games unfolding Dec. 1 in Doha, Qatar is so enormous.

But such burden is nothing new for the petite veteran campaigner, who with a new mount and a veteran coach, remains confident not only of her chances but of the team as well despite the presence of ace riders from the Middle East countries who didn’t see action in the 2002 Asiad in Busan, South Korea.

"The pressure is so immense," Leviste, a member of the RP team that won a silver medal in the 2002 Busan Games, told The STAR yesterday in a briefing hosted by one of her sponsors Cebuana Lhuillier.

"But I know what it takes to jump a championship, plus I have a new mount and a veteran coach, that would be my advantages," added the 33-year-old rider.

Leviste, who arrived recently from training in Belgium, was referring to Swedish warm blood Globe Platinum Just Jewels and Brazilian coach Jos Kumps, also the mentor of 2004 Athens Olympics gold medalist Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazil and reigning world champion Dermott Lennon of Ireland.

The RP riders are hoping to match, if not surpass, the team’s performance four years ago in Busan where the Philippines copped a gold medal in individual show jumping courtesy of Cojuangco-Jaworski and a silver in team show jumping.

"Everything is so unpredictable, that’s also what I’m banking on," said Leviste, who will be with Danielle Cojuangco, Paola Zobel and Juan Ramon Laranza, a gold medalist in the 1995 Chiang Mai Southeast Asian Games but retired for a decade before returning to bag a gold and a bronze medal in the 2005 Manila SEA Games.

"The team is basically a combination of young and veteran riders," said Leviste.

Just Jewels, then named Huldas Karin, she explained, would be a just replacement for her former horse, Globe Platinum Maktub, who died last June due to a case of colic. – Joey Villar