A sharp field of West Virginia-bred juveniles will square off in Saturday night’s Vincent Moscarelli Memorial Breeders’ Classic, and all eyes will be on Gurney Halleck, the gray son of Practical Joke who stamped himself as one to watch with an impressive win in last month’s Henry Mercer Memorial.

Trained by Jeff Runco and owned by David Raim, Gurney Halleck made the leap from a runner-up finish in his debut to a professional stakes victory, rallying from midpack to run down the leaders late under Arnaldo Bocachica. The Mercer win confirmed the colt’s quality and hinted that added distance might be right up his alley.

“After he got beat in the maiden special weight, Jeff wanted to run him back in another maiden race,” Bocachica said of the colt. “But I told Jeff I thought he could win the stakes. I thought there was a lot of speed in there and I could get to them late. He’s going to be really good. I think he will do better going two turns.”

While Bocachica will be busy on the Breeders’ Classics card—with upwards of 10 mounts, most of them for Runco—Gurney Halleck gives the duo one of their strongest chances at another big-night win.

Among the rivals looking to turn the tables are Tricks R for Juba, a hard-trying gelding who dueled on the lead in the Mercer before finishing third, and Noble Ruling, who broke his maiden going two turns over this track in August before finishing a wide fifth behind Gurney Halleck in that same stakes. Hopapa, a well-bred son of Aldrin from the Javier Contreras barn, showed promise when third in his debut and could move forward in his second start.

For all the early speed in the field, the setup may again play to Gurney Halleck’s strengths. If he continues his progression, this could be another step toward a very bright future for the Practical Joke colt who looks built for bigger things to come.