Rod Bonella

Bonella attended Scotch College, Melbourne, where he ran the mile and half-mile events, and was also a cross-country runner. He was part of the school's 4 x 880 yard relay team that set an Associated Public Schools of Victoria (APS) record.[2] In the 1960s, Bonella was trained by Emil Zátopek, and trained alongside fellow Australian athletes Ron Clarke, Trevor Vincent and Tony Cook.[2] In 1962, Bonella came second in the Australian National Marathon Championships, behind Keith Ollerenshaw.[3] He was competing for Victoria state.[4]

Bonella was selected for the marathon event at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Perth, Australia.[3] He came third in the race, finishing in a time of 2:24:07.[5][6] Bonella fell behind the leading two runners with 5 miles (8.0 km) to go in the race, and suffered with dehydration until the end of the race.[7] In 1963, he competed in local 3000 metres steeplechase, one mile, three mile and six miles events.[8] In 1965, Bonella won an APS Old Boys' cross-country event.[9]

Bonella retired from running in 1967, to focus on his horse training career.[2]

Bonella started training horses in 1957, when he imported the horse Caynham from the United Kingdom.[7] In 1965, Bonella bought Amourrou, a horse which had won the 1965 Churchill Stakes.[7] Amourrou was the grandson of legendary American horse Man o' War. Later in the year, Amourrou produced a foal that was the first horse born in Australia to be directly descended from Man o' War.[10] In the 1970s, Bonella earned a licence to become a horse owner and trainer.[7] From 1978 to 1984, Bonella took a break from horse racing, after one of his winning horses, Royal Amour, was badly injured.[7] Rooster Hall, a horse trained by Bonella, won a 1994 race at Sandown Racecourse.[11]

Bonella's daughter Louise is also a horse trainer.[2]

Bonella died of cancer on 2 April 2000, at the age of 62.[2]