Iron Rob vanned off after winning Baffle Stakes

ARCADIA, Calif. - Iron Rob had an ideal trip to win his stakes debut in Sunday’s $77,380 Baffle Stakes for 3-year-olds at Santa Anita, but was vanned off the track after being pulled up a furlong past the finish.

Iron Rob ($13.60) finished a half-length in front of Tiz a Billy, the 3-5 favorite. Iron Rob stalked Tiz a Billy through fractions of 22.07 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 45.04 for a half-mile and took the lead before the eighth pole.

In the gallop-out, jockey Santiago Gonzalez pulled up Iron Rob. The colt was jogged before track veterinarian Dana Stead before being vanned to trainer George Papaprodromou’s stable.

“He was just a tick off,” Stead said of Iron Rob’s soundness.

Gonzalez told Papaprodromou that Iron Rob “stumbled coming out of the gate.”

Tiz a Billy finished 8 1/2 lengths in front of He’s a Tiger, who was well clear of Hot Ore.

Iron Rob ran 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:15.50. The race was scheduled for the hillside turf course, but was switched to the main track following rain on Wednesday and early Thursday. The field was reduced from six to four after the morning scratches of Path of David and True Brilliance.

Iron Rob races for Justin Kretz. A colt by Twirling Candy, Iron Rob has won 2 of 9 starts and earned $110,520.