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.[1] With his brother, Philip, Peter Vela founded a commercial fishing company in the 1970s.[2] Vela Fishing grew to become one of the largest privately owned fishing companies in New Zealand.[3] 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.[3]
Philip and Peter Vela went on to establish Pencarrow Stud, on a 300-hectare (741-acre) property at Tamahere on the outskirts of Hamilton.[3][4] They owned and bred a number of successful horses, including Ethereal, which won both the Melbourne Cup and Caulfield Cup in 2001.[5] Among the horses bred by Pencarrow and sold as yearlings was Darci Brahma, which went on to win five group 1 races.[4][5] In 2000 and 2002, the Velas received the New Zealand Breeder of the Year award.[4]
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 horse races.[4]
The brothers split their business interests in 2013, with Philip taking control of Vela Fishing, while Peter retained ownership of the bloodstock enterprises.[5] Philip Vela died in 2015.[5] The Vela family wealth was estimated at NZ$245million in the 2019 NBR Rich List.[6]
In the 2002 Queen's Birthday and Golden Jubilee Honours, Peter Vela was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to horse racing and the bloodstock industry.[7] In the 2014 New Year Honours, he was promoted to Knight Companion of the same order, for services to the Thoroughbred industry.[8]
Vela was inducted into the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame in May 2021.[4]
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