Sussex trainer Alan Stevens has barely got his route mapped out to Sandy Lane and already he is quitting Oxford.

The trip from Battle, near Hastings, to Cowley sometimes takes in excess of three hours and not getting home until 2.00am after a meeting seems a fair reason to say enough is enough.

He has served Oxford well during his six-month stint and has recorded well over 100 open race victories.

Stevens will be off-loading his graders at Oxford and just concentrating on his open race commitments.

While he will be a loss to the training ranks at Sandy Lane, the racing office has acted swiftly in appointing Reading handler Dean Childs, who operates from kennels at Ockenden, Hertfordshire, as replacement.

He will bring a strength of around 20 hounds and will join immediately.

* Good news for the Oxford Maiden Derby event, which looked threatened this year after no sponsor came forward.

Italian-based Max Picinelli, who has dogs with Oxford trainer Tony Magnasco, has stepped in to save the £2,000-to-the winner event which is set to be run next month.

* The Oxford Owners' Association will be holding their monthly awards meeting on Friday. It costs just £10 to join and gives dogs the chance of a trophy they would otherwise never win.

* New trainer Terry Kibble made his mark with a treble on Tuesday, as Oxford trainers again ruled the roost in the Lovethedogs.com open race series.

The Ian Wills-trained Prima Maestro again starred for the locals, following up his impressive win last week with an easy victory over Brownhill Tony in 27.20.

Michael Peterson's Malglass Legend upstaged 2-5 favourite Perry Tango in the sprint, while Sparta Flyer and Emporio Rapide obliged for Terry Kibble and Alan Stevens respectively.