BELMONT NOTEBOOK/Will the 'Dudes' dominate?

Run Sarah Run's son is called First Dude, a reference to Todd Palin. When his wife, Sarah, was Alaska's governor, that's what she called him. So Tea Party members and people from red states will have a horse to root for in Saturday's Belmont Stakes.

First Dude made his first national splash when he finished a game second to Lookin At Lucky in the Preakness, in which he set the pace. He could be the main speed again.

Trainer Dale Romans, who never has won a Triple Crown event, likes his chances and his colt's name. "Well, there have been a few people who called and asked about it,'' Romans said. "That's a pretty clever name, and I'm sure there'll be a lot of Republicans cheering him on.''

There's another "dude" horse in the Belmont, Game On Dude, partly owned by Dodgers manager Joe Torre and trained by Bob Baffert. After the Preakness, Baffert said, "It's going to be the Dude against the Dude.''

Game On Dude might pressure First Dude up front. Mike Maker, trainer of long shot Stately Victor, hopes so. "Hopefully, the two 'Dudes' will duke it out," Maker said, "and we're not too far behind.''

Interactif in Belmont

Todd Pletcher entered turf specialist Interactif yesterday in the Belmont, expanding the likely field to 12. "We decided to call an audible and send him to the Belmont,'' Pletcher said. "Two weeks ago, we had it in our mind, and after surveying the field, we decided to go.'' Interactif is 3-for-8 lifetime, with two wins in turf stakes. He's 1-for-2 on conventional dirt, winning his 5-furlong debut last July at Monmouth. Javier Castellano will ride … Drosselmeyer worked 5 furlongs in 59.65 seconds on Belmont's main track, where Stately Victor went a half-mile in :49.93 … Make Music for Me did 5 furlongs in 1:01.21 on the training track.