Pompay has frustrating day with two photo-finish losses

No trainer should have to endure what Terri Pompay went through last Saturday at Gulfstream.

Lumumba, a promising 3-year-old making his career debut for Pompay, was defeated in a very tight photo in the fifth race, and then Nauset Beach was nipped in virtually identical fashion in the last race of the day, the $200,000 Sunshine Millions Classic.

“I went back and watched the replays, and it still looks like we won them both,” said Pompay, a trainer since 1995. “I don’t know if I’ve ever had such a frustrating day. On one hand, you can’t complain because the horses ran so well, but, yes, it was pretty sickening getting beat a whisker in both races.”

Nauset Beach, owned by Patricia Generazio, was 34-1 in the Classic after finishing fifth at 44-1 in a second-level allowance in his prior start.

“You don’t get many opportunities with a horse like him to win that kind of money,” she said. “I went home after the races, had a glass of wine, and climbed into bed and tried to forget about it.”