Comebacking Mikee tops World dressage Mla leg

MANILA, Philippines - Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski flashed vintage form and got the highest overall marks on top of Noble Blue in ruling the elementary division of the 2012 World Dressage Challenge Manila leg at the Manila Polo Club indoor arena in Makati City recently.

A gold medalist in the 2004 Busan Asian Games, Cojuangco, 38, skillfully rode her 12-year-old white thoroughbred as she garnered a 68.716 average score in the event also known as “horse ballet.” She bested Karen Concepcion, who scored a 58.716 average while riding Smeg Daylight.

“I’m pleased with the score because it is considered a high one,” said Cojuangco-Jaworski of her performance in the event where International Equestrian Federation-accredited judges come over to the country to evaluate the entries on their home turf to minimize expenses.

Veteran rider Vittorio Barba topped two divisions on separate horses in the one-day competition judged by FEI judges Maria Schwennesen of Australia and Tiina Karkkolainen of Finland, who evaluated the riders and their horses as they went through their paces and routines.

Barba scored an average of 67.414 aboard Flowervale Olympia in the preliminary adult event with Vanna Severino taking runner-up honors with a score of 64.224 while riding Zantango.

He also topped the medium category on Winter Blossom with a score of 64.563 while Yvette Lopez rode her regular mount Sasou to first (58.581) in the advance category.

Schwennesen, who has also judged dressage competitions in Japan, Malaysia, Germany and Australia, noted the marked improvement of the Filipino riders since she last judged in the country a year ago.

“There was about a 10 percent improvement that I have seen with your riders compared with what I witnessed last year,” she said.

Karkkolainen noted that Cojuangco-Jaworski’s expertise with her horse “which showed that she was ‘sitting’ on the horse and didn’t require too much prodding from its rider.”

Former national rider Steven Virata, who oversaw the race together with ring stewards Danni Virata and Lara Reynolds, said that the two judges will be heading for Hong Kong for the next leg of the FEI Asian Zone 9 series that also includes New Zealand, China, Hong Kong and the Philippines.