Daniel J. "Dan" Vella (born November 18, 1955) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

Champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, an ...

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

trainer. Born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Vella was introduced to

thoroughbred horse racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in t ...

by an uncle who owned horses. After graduating from high school, Vella went to work at a racetrack in his native Toronto. After an apprenticeship he worked as an assistant trainer with Patrick Collins and got his first win in 1985. Following the death of Patrick Collins in 1990, Vella took over as head trainer for the prominent Woodbine-based

Knob Hill Stable Knob Hill Stable was a Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing and breeding operation established by Toronto, Ontario businessman Steve Stavro. Stavro's interest in horse racing began in 1967 when he acquired a pair of yearlings – Boy Bandit and Da ...

where he remained until joining the racing operations of

Frank Stronach Frank Stronach (born 6 September 1932) is an Austrian and Canadian businessman and politician. He is the founder of Magna International, an international automotive parts company based in Aurora, Ontario, Canada, Granite Real Estate, and The ...

in late 1991.

Biography

Training for Stronach Stables, between 1993 and 1998 Vella spent a good part of his time competing in the United States but won important races at Woodbine including Canada's most prestigious race in 1994, the

Queen's Plate The King's Plate (known as the Queen's Plate between 1860 to 1901 and 1952 to 2022) is Canada's oldest Thoroughbred horse race, having been founded in 1860. It is also the oldest continuously run race in North America. It is run at a distance of ...

. That year, he was voted the Canadian

Sovereign Award for Outstanding Trainer The Sovereign Award for Outstanding Trainer is a Canadian thoroughbred horse racing honor given annually since 1975 by the Jockey Club of Canada. Part of the Sovereign Awards, the "Outstanding Trainer" laurel is similar to the Eclipse Award given to ...

and repeated as Champion trainer in 1995. After parting ways with Stonach Stables he remained working in the United States then returned to a Toronto base in 2003.

References

Daniel J. Vella at the NTRA

Daniel J. Vella at Woodbine Entertainment
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vella, Daniel 1955 births Living people Canadian horse trainers Sovereign Award winners Sportspeople from Toronto