Those of us who habitually check race results in NSW and the ATC will be familiar with the name of G.P. Vella - a trainer who places his horses carefully and makes the most of every opportunity. With rarely more than eighteen horses in work, Vella maintains a steady strike rate. On July 14th for instance he quietly slipped two horses to the Moruya meeting and nobody was surprised when both won - Chasing A Quid (Kayla Nisbet) at $4.20 and Imalovaboy (Jack Martin) at $4.00.
Clients and friends know him as Gratz, and that’s the name you’ll see in racebooks and form guides. He was actually christened Grazio in his native Malta more than sixty years ago, but was happy to accept “Gratz” after his name was tampered with by many Aussie mates as he grew up in Canberra. In the late 50’s and early 60’s it wasn’t uncommon for young Maltese fathers to leave their families behind while they checked out a potential future in Australia. Michael Vella did exactly that in 1964. His investigations took him to Canberra where he was lucky enough to land a job with the famous Humes Concreting Company. Michael then secured the best accommodation his meagre bank would allow and sent for his family.
“At the time that family numbered nine, eight kids and my wonderful mother Rita,” said Gratz. “A ninth baby was born in Australia and that completed our very large family. Can you imagine what an intimidating trip that must have been for my mother, a little Maltese lady with eight kids going to a place called Canberra and an uncertain future in a strange land. Sixty years on I’m happy to say Mum is still with us, as sharp as a tack at 93 years of age. She still lives alone in Melbourne with members of the family close by. We lost Dad some years ago.”
The famous Vella enthusiasm has never dimmed. He was just as excitable in the billy cart days as he was when Wanna Get A What won the TAB Highway at Hawkesbury 29/04/2017 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Gratz Vella’s introduction to horses is a story in itself. He was around ten years of age when a business idea suddenly flashed into his mind. He garnered the support of brothers Sam and George and two other neighborhood mates. “We lived right next door to the Canberra Pony Club grounds where large quantities of manure could be found the day after competition,” Gratz recalled. “Between us we somehow built a small fleet of billy carts made from bits of wood and pram wheels or ball bearings collected from the local tip. They were pretty rough vehicles but they allowed us to cart our supplies around the district selling the manure to residents. We’d divvy the money up at the end of the day.”
The business continued to thrive even after the Canberra Pony Club relocated to a new paddock a stone’s throw from the Canberra racecourse. Vella Enterprises filled their billy carts in exactly the same way and plied their trade to a brand new clientele one of whom just happened to be well known local horse trainer Robbie O’Sullivan. The boys became regulars at the O’Sullivan stables removing manure from the racehorse boxes. Not surprisingly Gratz slowly developed a fascination for the sleek thoroughbred occupants of those boxes, and the first seeds were sown on a journey destined to seal his future.
Fast forward a decade during which time he continued to spend time at the O’Sullivan stables learning the fundamentals of horse management. Sometime later Robbie elected to quit training, and in dispersing his horses made a suggestion which greatly interested twenty two year old Vella. “He encouraged me to take out a licence and try my hand at training a handful of average horses he had in the stable,” said Gratz. “He suggested I use it as an experiment to see if I could get these horses going well enough to win a race or two. I decided to concentrate on the picnic circuit and over the next few months we won a number of races. I was hooked, and just as I was trying to plan my next move a surprise offer came along.”
That offer came from John Morrisey, a long time resident at the on course training precinct and regarded as one of the most astute trainers in the business. “I’d known young Gratz from the time he started to help out at O’Sullivan’s stables,” said John. “I knew he’d had a very good grounding and I’d been watching his progress at the picnics. I needed another stablehand at the time and here he was in the same barn. I quickly offered him the job, never dreaming he’d stay with me for twenty years, the last half of which we spent at the Capricorn Park complex between Canberra and Yass. I let Gratz have three or four boxes right through that period which enabled him to keep his own licence current. Apart from being a very good hand with a horse, he’s also a very good bloke.”
Gratz enjoys a home track win at Canberra. He notched a treble on 30/11/2018 including the TAB Federal Hcp with Levee Bank. Here he is at the presentation - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Another Canberra veteran Keith Dryden has nothing but praise for his “stablemate” Gratz Vella. “I’ve known him since his early days with Robbie O’Sullivan and I’ve watched his career unfold ever since,” says Keith. “He’s an absolute natural with horses and looks after his team beautifully. I see him almost every day at Thoroughbred Park even if it’s only a wave from a distance of 150 metres, but if I run into him at a race meeting he’ll shake hands as though I haven’t seen him for six months. He’s the friendliest bloke in the racing industry.”
Once Gratz got over the initial shock of John Morrisey’s move to the Gold Coast, he made the inevitable decision to expand his own training involvement. His loyal client, the late Jim Munro decided to invest in the former Morrisey barn at Canberra racecourse and the 48 year old trainer was all set to go. He’d already won a healthy number of races training on a hobby basis. One of his early favourites was Mountain Time who raced sound for almost 100 starts, recording 15 wins and an amazing 31 placings. Two of his wins were at Canterbury and Warwick Farm. The most surprising aspect of the gelding’s genuine attitude was the fact that he was a “poddy” foal, left an orphan when his mother died giving birth. Veteran horsemen are of the opinion orphan foals can lose the competitive streak when constantly handled by humans.
Another of Gratz’s early favourites was Tamino who was a late bloomer in the early 1990’s but improved sufficiently to win 7 races with 21 placings yielding a healthy $841,000 in prize money. Five of his wins were on his hometrack at Canberra, while Mick Dittman got him home on one occasion at Canterbury. “Tamino was the horse to teach me that pedigrees can sometimes fool you,” said Gratz. “Because he was by sprint sire Opera Prince we obviously expected him to shine over the shorter trips. After ten ordinary runs we sneaked him out to 1400m which saw him win his maiden. From then on he raced mainly around the 2000m range, and even won one race at 2400m. I’ve never forgotten the lesson.”
There was one other unlikely development in Gratz Vella’s training career which bears a mention. His original stable colours were the red, white and black of the St. Kilda Football Club. “I turned up at Canterbury with a runner one day to be approached by one of the stewards who brought me bad news,” recalled the trainer. “He told me it had been discovered that my colours were registered in somebody else’s name and would have to be replaced. He handed me a set of colours which had been left in a jockey’s room some time before, and never reclaimed. It was also discovered that the colours hadn’t been re-registered. He told me to use them on the day and keep them if it suited. I immediately registered them in my name, and my horses have carried them ever since. The orange and grey stripes have brought me a lot of luck.”
Jess Taylor sports the orange and grey silks on Beau Rock in this Canberra win 24/02/2023 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Four years after his move back to Canberra, Gratz came up with the horse he rates the best he’s trained. You’re Canny was a precocious two year old who won three of his first four starts. He scored impressively first up at Canberra, before failing at Randwick behind Pane In The Glass. He bounced back to win the Black Opal Prelude and then followed up with a decisive defeat of Magic Millions winner Karuta Queen in the Black Opal itself. You’re Canny’s joint problems began to give trouble soon after, and it was more than a year before he scored again in a BM 70 on his hometrack. Gratz retired him after just eighteen runs which yielded 4 wins, 4 placings and almost $272,000 in prize money. The trainer is adamant You’re Canny was the “one who got away”.
Gratz had a lot of time for Stephan who had 35 starts for 7 wins, 7 placings and $263,000 in prize money. Early in the gelding’s career the trainer was beginning to think he’d never get to the races. “It was one thing after the other,” said Gratz. “Firstly, he had joint problems followed by a run of shin soreness. The final straw was a broken wither sustained when he reared over at his owner’s property. I couldn’t believe it when he finally got going in August of 2018. He ran third in a Canberra maiden and then won four of his next five starts. After a run of placings he won a midweeker at Warwick Farm with Tommy Berry up after which I turned him out. Next preparation he put together back to back Saturday benchmark wins at Rosehill ridden by Berry and Brenton Avdulla in that order.”
Stephan gets up in the last few strides to beat Americana Magic at Rosehill 09/11/2019 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Chosen Valour is another horse to feature prominently in the Gratz Vella scrapbook. The trainer picked him up at the now defunct Canberra Yearling Sale in the late 1990’s for an unbelievable $500.00. “He was correct enough but very small,” recalled Gratz. “He drew plenty of laughs when I first produced him at the track but it wasn’t long before I could see he could really gallop. A few of the regulars thought I was dreaming when I elected to run him first up at Randwick on the Saturday after the 1998 Melbourne Cup. He drew barrier 13 with Matthew Cahill in the saddle, led easily and won at odds of $31.00. He went on to win another five at Canberra and one at Wagga. He was the cheapest horse I’ve ever bought.”
Gratz wears his heart on his sleeve as Tommy Berry found out after Stephan's Rosehill win 09/11/2019 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Like all Canberra trainers Gratz Vella is perturbed about the massive Worker’s Compensation costs imposed by the ACT Government - costs which have seen prominent trainers like Luke Pepper, Matt Dale and Nick Olive move into NSW jurisdictions. Veteran Keith Dryden says it’s simply too late in life for him to even consider relocating across the ACT border. At 65 Gratz feels very much the same way. “It’s too late to start again,” he says.
“My home is in Canberra and so are the bulk of my clients. My father set up the family home in this city sixty years ago and I’m very attached to the place.”
He might be entering the veteran class as far as horse trainers go, but his passion for the job remains as ardent as ever. “I still enjoy getting out of bed at a ridiculous hour, and I still get a kick out of turning on the stable lights before dawn to hear all of my “mates” giving me a little whinny. I’ve got a great foreman in Willie Garland and reliable casual staff. The support and loyalty of my owners over the years has been wonderful. The late Jim Munro got me on my feet when I started, and remained loyal right up to his death in 2017 at 95 years of age. The Corkhill family have been staunch supporters over a lot of years.”
Very few days go by when Gratz Vella doesn’t count his lucky stars that his late father Michael made the huge decision to seek a new life in faraway Australia six decades ago. He’s equally thankful that Michael chose Australia’s national capital as a future home for his young family. Most of all he’s grateful for the fact that his little billy cart business enterprise showed him the way to a career he wouldn’t swap for the world.
Gratz takes his horses where they're most likely to win. Here he is with Melinda Kinny after a win with She's Kidding at Adaminaby in 2016 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
(Banner image - Imalovaboy (Jack Martin) in the familiar Vella colours arrived late to win at Moruya 14/07/2023 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.)