Grenfell horse trainer Keith Ritchie celebrates 100th birthday in Orange

But it could well be the secret, considering this week the Grenfell man and harness racing legend turned 100, reaching the century milestone on Wednesday. He was born on June 7 in 1923.

Asked if he had droves of interesting stories still tucked away, his reply was "oh yeah, could fill a book".

Highlights about the harness racing industry were met with a "too many to tell you", but special mentions went to champion horses Bony Walla, Bony's Brother, Prince Ali, Student's Wonder and Big Prince.

Steven Ritchie, one of Mr Ritchie's five children, can attest to his father's limitless tales.

"Dad doesn't forget anything and mentally, he's so sharp. His stories go back years and years and years," Mr Ritchie said.

"So, you'd better make sure that what you said the week before, you remember it the next week; because he'll remember it exactly the same as how you originally told him."

A butcher of 30 years and one of Grenfell Harness Racing Club's founding members back in the early 1960s, Mr Ritchie's birthday bash was held at Orange's St Francis Aged Care Home.

Surrounded by relatives, close friends and new neighbours, he entered the facility roughly one month ago after an Orange hospital admission in late March.

But prior to this, Mr Ritchie was sill driving around town and staying busy. He'd only stopped formally training horses at age 95.

"He always kept very active and lived independently until just recently, but that's always been dad's attitude, to keep moving," Steven Ritchie said.

"If you had something to do, you got in and did it. That's how he's always been, it's his generation. You don't dawdle if there's a job to be done, you just do it.

"That's just the way he was brought up."

Mr Ritchie lived in Bowral with his family - who owned a dairy farm and trotting horses - before moving to Grenfell as a teenager in 1939 after an invitation to relocate.

Dick Fraser owned Grenfell's Exchange Hotel and wanted the Bowral boy to ride his horses as a jockey, aware of young Keith's natural gift with the animals.

"You've got to study your horse," Mr Ritchie said. "Because he'll tell you what's going on."

He'd eventually meet and marry Grenfell's Ruby Amor, and be part of the Australian army's 7^th Cavalry Brigade during World War II.

"George Small and myself, we were one of the last of the lighthorses in Australia," he said.

"We rode all the way from Goulburn to Dapto."

Mr Ritchie purchased Aub Hasler's butcher business, running it for the next three decades, all the while training some of the state's top trotters.

"He's very social with people and just has a great knowledge of horses," Steven Ritchie said.

"How he cared for them and the way he cared for them, it was something else. They were always so special to him."

Some of Mr Ritchie's best advice to his children growing up was that you're responsible for your own actions, and you work hard to achieve your goals.

"He worked hard as a slaughter-man and I think training horses put him in good stead for later in life, he hated sitting around," Steven Ritchie said.

"He still reads without glasses, he was 99 still driving around. He can read the bottom line on the drivers' test as well, but he'll tell you that.

"But he's always kept himself fit and busy and said 'you keep moving'."

St Francis staff in Orange said he moves around the residence "remarkably well", saying they've not seen many people of Mr Ritchie's age with the same get up and go.

They can also attest to the fact that he doesn't mind a good chat, with family members who visit a well-loved Mr Ritchie "just about every second day".

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