Amberjack pegged at 4-5 to sweep Big Apple Triple

Amberjack will attempt to complete a rare sweep of the Big Apple Triple and

earn a $250,000 bonus when he competes in the $150,000

Albany

on Wednesday at Saratoga.

The 1 1/8-mile Albany is the third and final leg of the Big Apple Triple, a

three-race series for three-year-old New York-breds. Amberjack is eligible for

the $250,000 bonus, having already won the Mike Lee on June 1 at Belmont Park

and the New York Derby on July 20 at Finger Lakes. Only one horse, Tin Cup

Chalice in 2008, has swept the series.

Amberjack won a single race in three starts for trainer Dale Romans before he

was transferred to Michael Hushion by John Fort's Peachtree Stable. In his debut

for Hushion, Amberjack posted a half-length victory under a hand ride in May at

Belmont.

Cut back in distance for the seven-furlong Mike Lee, Amberjack rallied from

fifth and posted 1 3/4-length victory. He had no problem negotiating two turns

in the 1 1/16-mile New York Derby, tracking the pace and drawing clear in the

stretch en route to a 6 1/2-length triumph.

"When you win the Mike Lee, everyone thinks about (a Big Apple Triple)

possibility," Hushion said. "We thought he wanted to go longer, so we certainly

felt like we had a chance. I think he'll show up and run his race (in the

Albany)."

The Albany will be Amberjack's first start at 1 1/8 miles.

"Amberjack worked (four furlongs in :50 on Thursday), and that went well,"

Hushion said. "(Jockey) Junior Alvarado was on him again, and he was very

comfortable. He worked like the same horse he's been all along. I think the

extra sixteenth of a mile will be to our advantage."

Alvarado, aboard Amberjack in the Mike Lee, will ride the Indygo Shiner colt

from post position 4. Amberjack was installed as the 4-5 favorite on the morning

line.  

Escapefromreality, second by a neck to Revolutionary after leading in the

stretch of the Withers in February at Aqueduct Racetrack, seeks his first stakes

win in the Albany.

After the Withers, Escapefromreality finished ninth in Aqueduct's Gotham in

March following a rough trip. Trainer Dominick Schettino and owners MeB Racing

Stables and Brooklyn Boyz Stables elected to give Escapefromreality some time

off following the Gotham, and the move paid off when the gelding returned to

post a 3 1/2-length, gate-to-wire victory in a seven-furlong optional claimer

for New York-breds on July 4 at Belmont.

"He has the talent, so I'm expecting him to run a big race," Schettino said.

"I threw out (the Gotham). (The Withers) probably took a little out of him and I

probably ran him back a little too soon. I gave him a break and freshened him

up, and he won that race on July 4 pretty impressively. He's doing everything

right. He'll do whatever you ask him -- he'll go the lead, he'll sit off. He's

very versatile."

Escapefromreality, the 7-2 morning-line second choice, will depart from post

3 with Javier Castellano aboard.

The Albany field also includes Smooth Bert and Go Get the Basil, second and

fourth, respectively, in the New York Derby; Seventy Six, who won an optional

claimer for New York-breds on July 12 at Belmont; and the coupled entry of Ego

Friendly and In Harm's Way.

Three-year-old turf horses will contest the $100,000

Dance

of Life earlier on the card. Lexington Stakes hero Winning Cause, who

captured the July 28 Sir Cat over this same one-mile trip on the inner turf,

aims to double up for Todd Pletcher. Three others from the Sir Cat --

third-placer One More Cat, fifth Hamp and sixth Elusive Son -- are all back to

take another crack at Winning Cause.

The Kiaran McLaughlin-trained Sayaad, a sneakily-good fifth in the Hill

prince after a bad start, came right back with a second versus older horses and

fired a recent bullet in preparation. Bernie the Jet stretches out again in the

wake of a pair of useful efforts in turf sprint stakes, while likely pacesetter

Miceli invades from California.

The promising Bradester, who was sidelined following a smart allowance score

at Gulfstream on New Year's Day, is entered on a main-track-only basis. Also

hoping for a surface switch is fellow comebacker Dads Caps, winner of both of

his career starts on Aqueduct's inner dirt this winter.

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