Top jockey Richard Hughes is hoping for a good ride on Sussex outsider Strength 'N' Honour in tomorrow's Vodafone Derby.

Horsham trainer Charles Cyzer has secured the services of Hughes for the 100-1 chance in the Epsom classic.

Hughes said: "I haven't ridden Strength 'N' Honour and there won't be a chance to sit on him before Saturday.

"Cyzer tells me he has a decent turn of foot, so I will hope to get a good draw in the middle and take a position fourth or fifth on the rails by halfway. Then we'll hope for the best."

Hughes finished sixth on Perfect Sunday behind High Chaparral in last year's Derby and he was seventh the year before.

Tomorrow's big race is a real family affair for the publicity-shy Cyzers because Charles' wife Annie owns the three-year-old colt.

The horse was in danger of being eliminated when the 20-runner safety rule was applied, but his creditable third to Shield in the Sandown Derby trial at the end of April ensured his qualification.

Strength 'N' Honour scored over one-and-a-half miles on the polytrack at Lingfield in March and then over a mile-and-a-quarter at Newbury, with champion jockey Kieron Fallon aboard.

Connections can point to the fact that Terimon was 500-1 when finishing second to Nashwan in 1989.

Realistically, Strength 'N' Honour has little chance of winning against horses with Group One form to their credit.

My choice is the 2000 Guineas winner Refuse To Bend, whose trainer Dermot Weld has no superior and only a few equals.

Weld trains on the Curragh and has won races all over the world, including the Belmont Stakes in New York.

He is the only foreign trainer to win the Melbourne Cup, and he has done that twice.

His most recent winner, Media Puzzle, is a half brother to Refuse To Bend.

Unbeaten in four races, Refuse To Bend lost his place as favourite a few days ago after a gallop described by the trainer as "satisfactory but no more".

Weld tends towards understatement and, in any case, Refuse to Bend performed extremely well in his final piece of work two days ago.

Another Irish trainer, Aidan O'Brien, is seeking his third successive Derby win following Galileo and High Chaparral.

He is running four horses which to me indicates a lack of confidence in any one of them, so I rate Alamshar the principal danger to Refuse to Bend.

His owner, the Aga Khan, won last Sunday's French Derby with Dalakhani, probably the best three-year-old in Europe, and a Derby double in the emerald green and red colours is certainly on the cards.

Winner of the Leopardstown Derby trial last month only days after suffering an abscess in one foot, Alamshar has pleased trainer John Oxx since then.

He only scraped home at Leopardstown from The Great Gatsby three weeks ago, with Brian Boru two-and-a-half lengths back in third.

The latter pair are two of Aidan O'Brien's Derby team tomorrow, but I prefer one of the others, Alberto Giacometti, who had run third to Dalakhani and Super Celebre in the Prix Lupin last month.

He was beaten less than two lengths and, with the two in front of him running first and second in the French Derby last Sunday, the form looks fairly solid.

Meanwhile, rising young Brighton jockey Ryan Moore has been denied his first ride in the Derby after rank outsider Skelligs Rock missed the cut yesterday.

The 1000-1 maiden had no chance, but 19-year-old Moore's booking, even though he is still a three-pound claimer, emphasises what a bright prospect he is. He said: "Just to be offered a ride in the race was lovely. I think Refuse To Bend has the class to win."

Albanov, trained by John Dunlop at Arundel, also missed yesterday's cut which reduced the field to the safety limit of 20.