Sir Peter James Vela (born ) is a New Zealand businessman and Thoroughbred breeder and owner. With his brother Philip he founded Vela Fishing and Pencarrow Stud. He is most notably associated with the mare

Ethereal Ethereal may refer to: *Ethereal (horse), a horse that won Australia's Caulfield Cup as well as Melbourne Cup in 2001 *Ethereal wave, or simply ethereal, a subgenre of dark wave music *Wireshark, formerly named Ethereal, a free and open-source pack ...

, winner of the 2001 Melbourne Cup.

Biography

Vela was born in about 1949, the son of Filip Vela, who had come to New Zealand from the Croatian village of Pogdora in the 1920s. With his brother, Philip, Peter Vela founded a commercial fishing company in the 1970s. Vela Fishing grew to become one of the largest privately owned fishing companies in New Zealand. The company was the first to export New Zealand fillet products to the United Kingdom, and the first to export sea-frozen hoki fillets to the United States. Philip and Peter Vela went on to establish Pencarrow Stud, on a property at Tamahere on the outskirts of

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

. They owned and bred a number of successful horses, including Ethereal, which won both the Melbourne Cup and Caulfield Cup in 2001. Among the horses bred by Pencarrow and sold as yearlings was

Darci Brahma Darci Brahma (Danehill-Grand Echezeaux; foaled 21 September 2002) is a New Zealand thoroughbred colt foaled in 2002 at Pencarrow Stud near Cambridge in New Zealand. He was auctioned at the New Zealand Bloodstock Ltd Yearling Sales in January 200 ...

, which went on to win five group 1 races. In 2000 and 2002, the Velas received the New Zealand Breeder of the Year award. In 1997, the Velas purchased the Karaka-based Wrightson Bloodstock Ltd, renaming it New Zealand Bloodstock, and developing the New Zealand Bloodstock Yearling Sales and the

Karaka Million The Karaka Million refers to two major New Zealand horse races for young horses - the original Karaka Million for two-year-old (2YO) horses and the Karaka Million 3YO Classic that started in 2018. Held at Ellerslie Racecourse, they are New Zeala ...

horse races. The brothers split their business interests in 2013, with Philip taking control of Vela Fishing, while Peter retained ownership of the bloodstock enterprises. Philip Vela died in 2015. The Vela family wealth was estimated at NZ$245million in the 2019 '' NBR Rich List''. In the 2002 Queen's Birthday and Golden Jubilee Honours, Peter Vela was appointed an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rend ...

, for services to horse racing and the bloodstock industry. In the

2014 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2014 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

, he was promoted to Knight Companion of the same order, for services to the Thoroughbred industry. Vela was inducted into the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame in May 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vela, Peter Year of birth missing (living people) 1940s births Living people New Zealand people of Croatian descent New Zealand businesspeople New Zealand racehorse owners and breeders Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame inductees Businesspeople awarded knighthoods