EVANS CITY — When it comes to winning harness races, Steve Schoeffel has been there, done that.

1,000 times, to be exact.

Schoeffel, 41, of Evans City picked up his 1,000th career win Monday, going wire-to-wire with Chips a Cumin in a Quaker Trot.

The race took place at the Gratz Fairgrounds in Dauphin County as part of the fair circuit, of which Schoeffel has been a mainstay throughout his 20-year career.

“I race some at the Meadows and up in New York, but the fairs represent my busiest time,” Schoeffel said. “The travel can get kind of crazy.

“The fairs are beginning to wind down. They’ll be done by October.”

But, despite reaching the 1,000-race milestone, Schoeffel’s career is far from over.

“No way I figured on getting to 1,000 this year,” he said. “I was aware of it and knew what I needed to get there. Still, I thought it would happen sometime next season.”

Pennsylvania Harness Racing Association publicist Jeff Zidek compared 1,000 wins in harness racing to 1,000 points in basketball.

“It’s not uncommon, but it’s a very notable achievement,” he said. “Most guys who do it drive a lot of horses owned by other people, though.

“Steve drives his own horses. That’s what makes his 1,000 so impressive. He drives as many different horses in a week as other guys drive in half a night.”

Schoeffel has 54 wins on the fair circuit this year — second only to Roger Hammer’s 106 — and recorded his 1,000th win driving a horse bred by his late father, Terry Schoeffel.

Terry Schoeffel was president of the PA Fair Harness Horsemen’s Association and died last December.

The horse remains in the family and is owned by Steve Schoeffel’s mother, Virginia, and his wife, Kathy, along with Jim Reuther.

“I grew up around horses,” Schoeffel said. “My family has always owned them and trained them. I got into it big when I was about 13.

“I played baseball when I was younger, but this took over at that point. As long as I feel good and my health stays good, I’ll keep doing this.”

Schoeffel trains his horses at the Big Butler Fairgrounds.

Schoeffel said he’s won as many as 109 races in a year. He gets 10 to 12 starts per fair show and does two or three fairs per week in the heart of the season.

“The racing itself doesn’t wear you down, it’s the travel,” he said. “We’ve done fair racing in the Poconos or up in New York, driving four and a half hours to get there.

“We get there, do the races, then drive home. It makes for some long nights.”

Much of Schoeffel’s success on the track has come from adjusting to the horse while he’s driving it.

“I’ve raced 19 horses in one place before,” he said. “There’s a lot of differences among horses. They have different strengths. It’s hard to explain ... Some horses do certain things well on the track and have racing characteristics that other horses don’t.

“You pick up on tendencies and you have to do it quickly. Split-second decisions often make the difference between winning and losing.”

Schoeffel is cleary pretty good at making split-second decisions.