Trainer Mick Price is hoping Miss Maren can revive his spring fortunes in the Group Two Sandown Classic.Price has largely had to rely on Heart Of Dreams to carry the stable which struggled to gain momentum after a fetlock injury prevented top act Pompeii Ruler from racing.Price, who is seven shy of training 100 stakes winners, managed only four feature wins during the spring with Heart Of Dreams' victory in the Group One Underwood Stakes the only success at the elite level.Corsaire (Quezette Sta

Trainer Mick Price is hoping Miss Maren can revive his spring fortunes in the Group Two Sandown Classic.

Price has largely had to rely on Heart Of Dreams to carry the stable which struggled to gain momentum after a fetlock injury prevented top act Pompeii Ruler from racing.

Price, who is seven shy of training 100 stakes winners, managed only four feature wins during the spring with Heart Of Dreams' victory in the Group One Underwood Stakes the only success at the elite level.

Corsaire (Quezette Stakes), Raheeb (Superstable Stakes) and Rightfully Yours (Hocking Stuart Stakes) all won Listed races.

Light Fantastic, who suffered hock soreness; Gallica, who jarred up on the hard tracks and Pre Eminence were among Price's older headline horses but with eight runs between them they had little impact.

Tribunal and Weasley were Victoria Derby candidates but didn't make the grade while Silkyanna similarly missed out on the VRC Oaks.

"We tried some horses for the Derby and Oaks but they weren't good enough and we couldn't get them there," Price said.

"You need a bit of luck on the way through."

Price, who trained 22 stakes winners last season alone, said it was always going to be hard to replace horses like Pompeii Ruler, Light Fantastic and Gallica.

However on Saturday Price is hopeful that Miss Maren can get a well deserved win in Saturday's Sandown Classic (2400m).

Price has always had a good opinion of the five-year-old and she has come of age since a membrane over her epiglottis was lasered off after she lost form last year.

She won the Group Three Easter Cup (2000m) in April and this campaign has emerged as a Group One mare with a third in New Zealand's Kelt Capital Stakes (2040m) and second to Scenic Shot in the Mackinnon Stakes (2000m).

"She has matured and been a real improving mare," Price said.

"Her run in New Zealand was good and the Mackinnon was probably her best run.

"I was nearly going to tip her out after that (the Mackinnon) but I found no reason to do so.

"I can't fault her and her gallop on Saturday morning was good so she will run this week with Craig Newitt up."

Miss Maren is among 16 nominations for the Sandown Classic which also includes Lloyd Williams-owned trio C'est La Guerre, Efficient and Zipping.

With the departure of John Sadler this week, long time stable foreman Robert Hickmott takes control of the Williams team.

A dual Sandown Classic winner, Zipping hasn't raced since finishing third to So You Think in the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley and was scratched from the Mackinnon Stakes after becoming trapped under the barrier stalls.

Efficient had some injury issues and didn't start in the Melbourne Cup while C'est La Guerre finished eighth.

Other Sandown Classic entries include Melbourne Cup runners Master O'Reilly (fourth), Munsef (12th) and Gallions Reach (13th).

Mackinnon Stakes winner Scenic Shot will finish his Melbourne campaign in the Classic while Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Mark Kavanagh is looking to extend his successful run with Raffaello.

Entries for the Group Two Sandown Guineas (1600m) were extended after only 12 nominations were received on Monday.

Peter Snowden has entered Carbine Club Stakes winner Kidnapped as well as Euphemism and Khas Kura while Edward Manifold Stakes winner Majestic Music is also a contender.