LUISA ZISSMAN rocked up in Alan Sugar’s boardroom with the ‘sex appeal of Jessica Rabbit and energy of a Duracell bunny’.
But it’s all about racehorses now for this former Apprentice star.
Zissman is one of a number of celebrity owners up and down the country who have taken a keen interest in silks and whips.
Carol Vorderman is another and the former Countdown star owns a horse with former Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond.
But neither have been so closely involved with horses for so long as Luisa – even if she thinks the racing community is ‘embarrassed’ by her.
Rubbish.
For racing to keep thriving it needs to bring in new people.
That’s why the Apprentice runner-up from 2013 thinks it’s so great Hollie Doyle finished third in last year’s BBC Sports Personality of the Year award and got recognition from people outside the paddock.
Speaking of Doyle, she has ridden Luisa’s Red Carpet Queen – the filly she owns – twice.
It is a source of great pride and joy for ex-Celebrity Big Brother star Luisa to see the three-year-old – trained at George Scott’s yard in Newmarket, Suffolk – hurtle down the track.
And ownership shows how far she has come since first visiting a stables in primary school to finally getting her parents to buy her one when she was 15.
But she could soon be asking Doyle for racing tips after admitting her own first experience on a racehorse left her fearing for her life.
Luisa, 33, who finished fourth in an amateur race at Glorious Goodwood in 2019, said: “The first time I sat on a racehorse I didn’t even want to go on the gallops because I thought I was going to die!
“But the horse was amazing, I fell in love with her. I did all the training to be a jockey – it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
“The fitness is insane. You don’t understand how tough they are.
“I was getting up at 5am, riding for two hours, going from there to Pilates then two PT sessions then Pilates again. The fitness was unreal.
“The Apprentice was a slow burner over 12 weeks. But nothing in the world compares to riding a racehorse.”
Luisa has not quite hit the dizzy heights with Red Carpet Queen that she did after that Goodwood run.
The horse’s best finish so far was when she was beaten just half a length into third over five furlongs at Chelmsford last September.
Actually pretty good considering she was long odds of 22-1.
When Luisa raced in the Magnolia Cup, she said the incredible high lasted for five hours afterwards.
The buzz is different being an owner.
Although coronavirus has ruined everything for racegoers, Luisa says the enjoyment she gets now is from watching ‘Queenie’ run and going to the course with friends for a day out.
Her horse is easy to spot. It’s the one with the big red lips plastered all over the jockey’s silks.
Speaking of her decision to take the plunge and buy the horse for a five-figure sum at Goffs sales in Doncaster in November 2019, Luisa said: “Before I knew anything about racehorses or knew how to read a racecard, I bet on the horse with the best name and the colours I liked.
“I thought, ‘if I was a girl going to the races I would bet on Red Carpet Queen and I’d bet on those silks’ so that was my thinking behind them!
“I keep the silks, I designed them, they’re mine for ever. When I get my next racehorse they will wear the same ones.
“Unfortunately, the commentary for Queenie’s most recent race was really uncomplimentary.
“They were like, ‘oh, these interesting silks owned by Luisa Zissman, she’s from The Apprentice’.
“And then the other commentator said ‘I don’t like that show’
“I was like ‘oh f*** off stop putting a downer on my nice silks’.
“They always have something to say about the silks or me, it makes me laugh.
‘I’m probably an embarrassment’
“My mum always gets really upset and asks me ‘why do they say that about you?’
“And I said ‘oh, mum, because I’m probably an embarrassment to racing!’
“But a lot of people just don’t understand racing and think it is an elitist sport and a world that’s hard to crack into, but Chris Hughes off Love Island is well into it too.
“We’re just normal people and it makes the sport more accessible – that’s why I’m with Opulence now.”
Opulence Thoroughbreds are a new syndicate looking to get more people into racing.
Luisa’s association with them is all part of broadening racing’s appeal.
And she says that any preconceptions about racing should be tossed aside – especially given it’s furlongs ahead of others by having men and women compete on the same terms.
Luisa, who is one half of the popular LuAnna podcast with Celebs Go Dating host Anna Williamson, said: “Whether it’s the whip or how the horses are treated… there are a few things that are misconstrued.
“The jockeys and their dedication is incredible, they’re so fit and light and strong.
“It is one of the only sports in the world which is gender-neutral almost.
“Once you have your cap on and your silks on and come out of the weighing room that’s it, everyone’s equal.
“That’s an incredible thing in today’s world where we go on about gender equality a lot.”
The only thing left to do then is bag a winner – maybe on Queenie.
Luisa added: “I am that annoying person who gives it 110 per cent so I need to be properly training.
“I want to race again. Next time I will have the fastest horse.”
Don’t bet against it.
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