Canadian Trainer Vella Reflects on 50 Years in Racing

Sitting comfortably in his living room on a bitterly cold January morning, trainer Dan Vella embraced the opportunity to reminisce about his horse racing life, the one started 50 years ago on the Woodbine backstretch. With the 2021 Thoroughbred season in the rear-view mirror and the start of the 2022 Toronto oval campaign a few months away, the 66-year-old Vella spoke passionately and proudly of a career that is still galloping along at a steady pace. While certain names, both horses and people, might escape his recollections, how it all began for the man with 860 career wins, where he's currently at, and where he believes he's headed, couldn't be any clearer. "When people say things like, 'Remember back in 1991 when you did this?' I don't always recall those things. My mind doesn't work that way, but I do remember a lot. And whenever I do recall those moments, it reminds me of how lucky I've been." Vella's introduction to horse racing came through his uncle, a relative whose passion for the sport was quickly noticed by his young nephew. Vella's initial work with equines wasn't with racehorses, though he eventually found his way to the Woodbine backstretch in 1972, a wide-eyed teenager bent on finding a gig in the Thoroughbred world. He eventually became a groom. "I was grooming Fabe Count, who raced against Secretariat in his final race, the Canadian International (G2), at Woodbine," Vella recalled. "It was exciting, but I think I was too young to truly understand how exciting it was. It was a big deal. I still have a couple of win tickets. I bet a few dollars on Secretariat and kept the tickets that say 'Big Red' on them. If I look hard enough, I'd probably find three or four of those tickets." The sight of Secretariat pulling away from the pack with ease, the fans streaming across the dirt track to get a front-row look at the champion in his finale, the crescendo of the crowd growing as the brilliant chestnut strode back to the winner's circle—Vella remembers the sights and sounds as though it were yesterday. A few years after his brush with greatness, Vella's career started trending upwards. The more he immersed himself in the sport, the more he became enamored with the training side, ultimately starting his own training career, working for top owners such as Steve Stavro and Frank Stronach. Wins, high profile ones, were soon the norm. He was credited with his first stakes win when Bert James took the 1985 Sir Barton Stakes. Training for Stronach between 1993 and 1998, Vella spent the majority of those years competing in the United States, where he sent out Explosive Red to win the 1993 Hollywood Derby (G1T) and American Derby (G2T). Vella also excelled at Woodbine, punctuated by his 1994 Queen's Plate triumph with Basqueian. Vella was voted the Sovereign Award as Canada's outstanding trainer in 1994 and repeated the feat in 1995. After parting ways with Stronach Stables, he remained in the United States before he returned to Woodbine in 2003. "Basqueian is one of my all-time favorite horses. He was very talented, but very personable. He was a tough horse. He won the Durham Cup three or four times. He was an average-bred horse, but he's a very good one. As talented as he was, he had this amazing focus. Over the years, you have horses that are talented and others that are overachievers. He was both. He didn't miss much. He would go inside, outside, around, at the front—he could do anything. He won the Plate, was second in the Prince of Wales, and won the Breeders'. Just a great horse." Other stable stars Vella has campaigned include King Ruckus, Wild Zone, All Firmed Up, Miners Mirage, and Mysteriously. He also had six Breeders' Cup starters, though all were off the board. In 2012, he sent out Strait of Dover to win the Queen's Plate, a front-running score engineered by jockey Justin Stein on a rainy, grey day at Woodbine. "It was a mess that day, but you don't remember it that way. You're out there and it's pouring... I felt bad because the owner's elderly mother was there, and she was soaking wet. We all were. When you have that kind of win in that kind of race, you don't really care about what's up in the sky. It was a great ride by Justin and just a great day all around." There have been other triumphs beyond the two Plate crowns. Last year, Vella sent out 13 winners from 97 Woodbine starts, including stakes winners Marie MacKay, The Minkster, and Where's Neal. A son of English Channel, The Minkster capped off a sensational rookie campaign with a victory in the 118th edition of the Coronation Futurity, a key race on the road to the Queen's Plate. "We have some nice young horses in the barn and we're hoping to take a run at some big races. It's fun to have good horses and it makes getting up in the morning a little easier for everyone in the barn. They're all different. Horses, they may blossom at different times, but we're lucky to have them with us." Vella is appreciative when he speaks of his golden anniversary in racing. "Fifty years... it's hard to believe time has gone by that fast. I can say that I'm very proud of my career and I can also say that I've had some good help over the years. Steve Stavro and Frank and Frida Stronach have been fantastic to me and to my career. They changed everything for me. I've always felt very lucky to be a person that others could trust to train their horses. That's a big thing. "These people invest in their horses, they breed them, they put their love into them—there is a lot of emotion involved in this. It's more than just money. I've always felt I've been very lucky to have good horses in my barn. I learned a long time ago—I'm not taking anything away from horse trainers—that being a good trainer is quite easy. You just need great horses. Great horses do great things, they make careers, and they make us very happy." And make no mistake, Vella is happy. Lucky is a word he uses often. "When I look back on my career, I never forget just how lucky I am. Winning two Queen's Plates... for a Canadian trainer, born and raised here, brought up around horse racing, I don't think it gets any better. To be quite honest, for a young kid working on the racetrack, to win the Queen's Plate, it's what you dreamed about." This spring, the pounding of hooves over the Woodbine racetrack will return, preparations and plans for his barn will begin, and the pursuit of more victories will be at the forefront of Vella's thoughts. But for now, even briefly, the chance to look back in time is a welcome distraction from the cold and snow. "Sometimes I flip through pictures and wish I would have kept more photos of stakes races and things like that. When you look back at the photos of the horses, you remember the wins, but you also remember their personalities. It's great to look back and remember those moments. It really is very enjoyable."