Trainer Lauren Robson says she’ll be back to the seven-day-a-week grind starting tomorrow morning, but for now she’s going to savor her first career stakes win as long as she can.

Rebel With a Cause, able to sit off dueling leaders early and then able to take advantage of an opening along the rail in mid-stretch, powered to a 1¼-length victory in Saturday’s My Frenchman Stakes at Monmouth Park.

With her 97^th career starter, and in her third-ever stakes try, the 43-year-old from England finally had her first stakes win.

“I’ll try to enjoy this. There’s a lot of stuff to think about,” she said. “You get this high and then it’s back to work and the grind seven days a week. You’re always onto the next one. But I am going to try to enjoy this. It’s really a big milestone for me. It’s huge, to ship and for everything to go right it makes it special.”

Ridden by veteran Jose Ferrer, Rebel With a Cause covered the 5½ furlongs over a firm turf course in 1:03.90.

He defeated five other 3-year-olds in the feature, including favorite Cairo Surprise and second choice Big Destroyer from Miguel Clement’s barn.

Big Destroyer was second, a neck ahead of Cairo Surprise.

“I had a great trip,” said Ferrer. “I was behind (My Boy Star and Cairo Surprise) and I was able to hold the rail. It worked out perfect for me. Turning for home when he switched leads he just took off running. The horse in front of me drifted a little bit so I ducked to the rail and it opened up for me.”

A son of Leinster owned by Tristar Farm, Rebel With a Cause improved to 3-for-5 lifetime. He was fourth in his first stakes try in his last start at Churchill Downs, also at 5½ furlongs on the grass. He was also coming off a nine-week layoff.

“I had so much nervous energy anticipating this race because I knew he would run well,” said Robson who oversees a 20-horse stable after working for Jonathan Sheppard, Wesley Ward, Jerry Hollendorfer, Richard Mandella and Todd Pletcher. “Now it’s like `whew. It’s done. We did it.’ I know he has a lot of natural speed but I didn’t want him to engage with a couple of the really fast horses in there. But I knew he could so I told Jose `just be careful out there.’

“He does have the speed to be on the lead but we didn’t want him to get into a duel. He had a lot of horse the whole way.”

Rebel With a Cause and Ferrer broke sharply, sitting in a stalking position behind early speedster My Boy Star, with Cairo Surprise looming on the outside through a :22.81 opening quarter. Coming out of the turn, with My Boy Star and Cairo Surprise laboring in deep stretch, Ferrer sent Rebel With a Cause to the rail.

He returned $11.40 to win.

Robson, who came to the United States in 2004, took out her license in 2023. She still gallops many of her horses.

“This just means so much to get a stakes win,” she said. “I have felt this horse has stakes potential but they have to go out and do it and he did.”