The Irish Times/Sport Ireland Sportswoman Award for May: Siobhán Rutledge (Horse racing)By her own admission, Siobhán Rutledge has been pretty hard on herself down the years. No matter what she ever achieved, “I’d be the first person to pick out something I did wrong”. That’s the way it’s had to be, though, she insists, because in the sport of horse racing, if you make the same mistake twice, “the opportunities soon dry up”.But on a Thursday afternoon in May at Fairyhouse, the 26-year-old from Meath allowed herself to be just a small bit proud of herself after she reached a big milestone in her career. In riding the Ross O’Sullivan-trained Stone Bear to victory in a six-furlong contest, she reached the 95 career winners mark, and in doing so she became just the third female Irish flat jockey, after Joanna Morgan and Cathy Gannon, and the first in more than 20 years, to ride out her claim.For those of us not entirely familiar with racing lingo, riding out a claim effectively means moving from the amateur to the professional ranks, and in the process losing a weight allowance – in this case three pounds – given to less experienced jockeys. From here on in, then, Rutledge will be competing against the best in the sport without that advantage. To the uninitiated, this doesn’t sound like a good thing, perhaps explaining why, when she spoke on TV after the race, she said “it’s all downhill from here!” “I said that all right,” she laughs. “Yeah, it’s going to get very competitive now. It already was, but you won’t have that little bit of help with the three-pound allowance any more. It means I’ll compete on an even playing field with everyone else, which probably does make it harder going forward. There’s a chance too that it might be more difficult to get opportunities now. Another challenge, I suppose.”“But it might help in that I’ve had enough winners now to show that I kind of know what I’m talking about. It’s true all right, I never really give myself too much credit, but if I knew at 16 or 17 that I’d be here now, yeah, I’d be proud of the achievement. That day in Fairyhouse was probably one of the best I’ve had so far. Yeah, it was special.”As memorable as her first winner, in 2019?“Nothing is as memorable as your first winner!”But if there are steeper challenges ahead, they’re unlikely to faze Rutledge too much, she’s had plenty to deal with thus far. She got her love of horses from both her parents, Ger and Geraldine, Ger a farmer by trade but also a point-to-point jockey and trainer, Geraldine coming from a family involved in breeding. Ger died when Rutledge was just nine, at which point his horses had to be taken from the family home. The heartbreaking loss of that connection to her father made her all the more determined to put racing at the centre of her life. Siobhán Rutledge rides Lord Erskine to victory at the Curragh in 2023. 'I love working with the horses. I find it very relaxing.' Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho “I think that’s a natural thing – when you lose anybody in your life you try to find a way to feel close to them,” she told The Irish Field a few years back. “That was just the way for me when I was growing up, and even now, to remember him and feel close to him.” It was enrolling at the Race Academy in Kildare during her transition year in school that made her realise she could find a career in racing. Not necessarily as a jockey, though. “I was doing the trainee jockey course, but I didn’t think that I would make it as a jockey, to be honest.” But trainer John McConnell took her under his wing when she left the academy and convinced her that she could, indeed, succeed as a jockey. He went on to play a major role in her career.So, she made it as a jockey after all? “But when do you even make it, really? I don’t even know. Could you even say I’ve made it now? But I’ve made a good living, I’ve worked very hard at it and I’ve had the blinkers on now for a long time. I enjoy it.” “I love working with the horses. I find it very relaxing; it keeps me very present. And I love riding young horses and seeing them progress and teaching them a bit. Finding out which ones are good and which ones are no good. It’s nice to bring a young horse along. Yeah, it’s a good life.”No more than Rachael Blackmore, though, Rutledge prefers to wave away chat about being a woman in the sport. “I don’t feel male or female right now, I don’t even feel human,” Blackmore famously said after winning the English Grand National. It’s Rutledge’s favourite quote. [ Denis Walsh: Rachael Blackmore and Diane Crump before her merely exceptions in a man’s worldOpens in new window ]“I think the sport is hard for every young apprentice starting out, not just for young girls. It’s so competitive in Ireland for all jockeys, men or women. You’d like to think if you’re good enough that you’ll get the chances, and if you do, you just have to nail them.” Goals?“I don’t have any crazy ones. I set some for myself when I was younger that were probably a bit too heavy for me, so now I just keep the head down, keep working hard, keep doing what I’m doing and hope the opportunities come my way. And when they do, take them.”Previous monthly winners – December: Lauren Walsh (golf); January: Michelle Clarke (basketball); February: Sarah Lavin (athletics); March: Kate O’Connor (athletics); April: Eve McMahon (sailing).