With just three weeks to go until the final leg of the horse racing 2010 Triple Crown carries out with the Belmont Stakes, several horses took to the track at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York for practice runs in anticipation of the 142^nd annual running this past weekend. First Dude and Uptowncharlybrown were two of the first horses to take to the track on Saturday, with Stay Put, Drosselmeyer, and Fly Down taking to the track on Sunday.

First Dude looked solid in its first sports betting practice run, going five furlongs in 1:01.32 while working on the main track under exercise rider Tammy Fox. First Dude's trainer, Dale Romans, told reporters after the run that he would stick with the normal training regimen that he uses for all of his races, including the Preakness Stakes, in which his colt finished second to Lookin At Lucky a couple of weeks ago. First Dude has run well in all five of his recent appearances, and will look to continue to make the transition to the Belmont Park surface.

Uptowncharlybrown was almost just as good Saturday, finishing a run that was the same length in a time of 1:01.34, just 0.02 seconds later than First Dude's practice time. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin's horse has won two of the five races it has run in, and finished second in an additional two. Both First Dude and Uptowncharlybrown will likely run in longer length practice sessions over the next couple of weeks.