Trainer Terri Pompay admits she has no idea what to expect when she sends La Frost postward in Sunday’s $100,000 Red Bank Stakes at Monmouth Park.

It isn’t because of the one-mile distance. La Frost has already proven he can go two turns, having won at a mile and a sixteenth. It isn’t a class issue, since the Kentucky-bred 4-year-old gelding is coming off a third-place finish in the Grade 3 Philip H. Iselin Stakes.

It’s all about the turf and how the son of Frosted takes to it. Not only has La Frost never been on the grass, he has never even worked over it.

“I’m taking a chance,” said Pompay, currently tied for ninth in the Monmouth Park trainer standings with 10 wins at the meet. “Either people will look at you and think you’re a genius or they’ll look at you and think that girl doesn’t know what she’s doing.

“We’ve got nothing to lose at this point. You never know. People may say `what is she doing?’ But sometimes you have to take a chance.”

In a 32-year career that boasts 619 winners, including Grade 1 winner Currency Swap, Pompay certainly knows what she is doing. But the combination of curiosity about La Frost trying the turf, her feeling that “he is at his best right now,” and the short field for the 53^rd edition of the Red Bank Stakes has her wanting to try this spot.

The Sunday feature drew a field of six, including Grade 1 winner Win For the Money from Mark Casse’s barn; Souper Forces, a stakes winner trained by Michael Trombetta, and recent Pennsylvania Governor’s Cup runner-up Spellcast. Jersey-breds J J Zo Zo and There Are No Words round out the field.

La Frost, owned by Wanda Polisseni’s My Purple Haze Stables, has won three of six career starts, with all of those victories coming over Monmouth Park’s dirt course.

“I had been entering him (on the grass) and the races weren’t going,” said Pompay. “I wasn’t thinking of putting him in this spot but I couldn’t get any of the other races to go. It’s a short field and he’s doing well right now so why not try?

“I originally entered him for main track only in this race. But when I saw it was a short field I said `you know what? Let’s give it a try.’ ”

Pompay said La Frost has come into his own since being gelded following his career debut last Aug. 31 and following a lengthy recovery from what she said were “horrible stomach ulcers.”

His debut in stakes company in the Iselin in his last start was a solid effort, with La Frost beaten a combined six lengths by multiple graded stakes winner Bishops Bay and Grade 3 winner Chunk of Gold.

Melissa Iorio rode him that race and has the call again on Sunday.

“What I liked about that race is down the backside they were kind of running away from him. Melissa did the right thing. She gave him a breather but I was thinking `oh, no, he is going to lose by a lot and finish last,’ ” said Pompay. “Then she asked him to run again and he came back on. He closed a lot of ground to be a good third.”