The Albany Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race that is the third and final leg of the "Big Apple Triple," a grouping of three races in New York for horses bred in that state. A horse who wins all three of the Big Apple Triple wins the purse total of $400,000 plus a $250,000 bonus. The first leg is the Mike Lee Handicap run at Belmont Park, and the second leg is the New York Derby at Finger Lakes race track. The series began in 1999.
The Albany is held at the Saratoga Race Course and is open to Thoroughbred three-year-old horses of either gender running at a mile and one eighth on the dirt. It offers a purse of $150,000. Although it is not restricted to registered New York breds, due to the racing conditions, it still is not an open race.
Run since 1978, the Albany was held at Belmont Park in 1981, at Aqueduct Race Track in 1980, and also from 1982 to 1985.
In 2008, Tin Cup Chalice won the first Big Apple Triple by taking the Albany Stakes, the New York Derby, and the Mike Lee Handicap. In the Albany Stakes, Tin Cup Chalice went up against Big Truck, a Kentucky Derby runner and Icabad Crane, the third place finisher in the Preakness Stakes. Fourstardave won this race in 1988 and Julie Krone won it on Copper Mount in 1994.