Daniel J. "Dan" Vella is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 Champion

Sovereign Award

The Sovereign Award is given annually since 1975 by the Jockey Club of Canada to the outstanding horses and people in Canadian Thoroughbred racing.The most prestigious award for horses is Sovereign Horse of the Year....

 Thoroughbred

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...

 racehorse

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

 trainer

Horse trainer

In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...

.

Dan Vella was introduced to Thoroughbred horse racing by an uncle who owned horses and, after graduating from High School, went to work at a racetrack in his native Toronto. After an apprenticehip 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

Woodbine Racetrack

Woodbine Racetrack is a Canadian racetrack for Thoroughbred horse races located at 555 Rexdale Blvd. in the city of Toronto, Ontario. It is the only horseracing track in North America which stages, or is capable of staging, thoroughbred and standardbred horseracing programs on the same day...

-based Knob Hill Stable

Knob Hill Stable

Knob Hill Stable was a Canadian Thoroughbred horse racing and breeding operation established by Toronto businessman, Steve Stavro.The stable bred and raced a number of champions such as Canadian Horse of the Year honourees, Benburb and Thornfield. In 1992, Steve Stavro was voted a Sovereign Award...

 where he remained until joining the racing operations of Frank Stronach

Frank Stronach

Frank Stronach, CM is an Austrian-Canadian businessman. He is the founder of Magna International, an international automotive parts company based in Aurora, Ontario, Canada, and Magna Entertainment Corp., which specializes in horse-racing entertainment...

 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

Queen's Plate

The Queen's Plate is Canada's oldest thoroughbred horse race. It is run at a distance of 1¼ miles for 3-year-old thoroughbred horses foaled in Canada. The race takes place each summer in June or July at Woodbine Racetrack, Etobicoke , Ontario...

. That year, he was voted the Canadian Sovereign Award for Outstanding Trainer

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 horse trainers in the United...

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.