Preventing '>' from being interpreted as a shell redirection when using system()

[jschnitter]

I am attempting to run a Microsoft osql query via a Cygwin ssh call on Windows
via PHP's system function.

This command works fine:

system("ssh -l myuser myserver \"osql -S SQLServer -d SQLDB -U sqluser -P
sqlpassword -Q \\\"select * from MY_TABLE where MY_TABLE = 'ABC'\\\"\"", $rc);

If I include a greater than (>) or less than (<) operator in my SQL, the
operator is treated as a shell redirection.

This command does not work:

system("ssh -l myuser myserver \"osql -S SQLServer -d SQLDB -U sqluser -P
sqlpassword -Q \\\"select * from MY_TABLE where MY_TABLE > 'ABC'\\\"\"", $rc);

I get an error from Windows:
"The filename, directory name or volume label syntax is incorrect."

I tried escaping the >. I've tried addslashes(), escapeshellarg(), escapeshellcmd(). No luck.

I can get the command to work directly from the Cygwin shell, so I know the
syntax is valid. It's just a matter of constructing my string with the proper
escape sequence.

How can I generate my command so that the comparison operator is not
interpreted as a shell redirection?