HAIL TO BUSHRANGER'S CAESAR

Frankly, we were a little disappointed. We thought with a sire like Bushranger, he would generate a plethora of themed nomenclature.

OK, given that his oldest Australian progeny are only yearlings and there are less named than the fingers on your local butcher’s left mitt, he does have a handful of runners in Europe where his 2YOs have been widely lauded and are performing accordingly.

But really … his unbeaten filly – Majestic Alexander? Jawmeiner, Redlorryyellowlorry. Are you kidding?

To be fair, another of his winners in Outback Lover is a little closer to the mark while Captain Moonlite and Kitty Brown (Frank Gardiner’s ‘squeeze’) are nearing the ball park, but there’s not one single ‘Kelly’ among his runners thus far.

Absolution however goes to leviathan owner, Derrick Smith, who has named his Bushranger colt (the one purchased by Jeremy Noseda for $220,000 guineas last year) … wait for it … John Caesar.

Alright for those of you who spent more time at school studying things like, ah, writing, rather than poring over stories about bushrangers, John Caesar was from Madagascar, late of London, and was shipped to Australia with the First Fleet. And not in First Class either.

Better known as ‘Black Caesar’ for obvious reasons and clearly arising from a much less PC era, he escaped from custody on five occasions and became Australia’ s first bushranger.

With a bounty of five gallons of rum on his head, Black Caesar once got speared by natives near Rosehill (possibly the first, but not the last to feel the pointy end in that part of town) and, on another occasion he was captured by a bounty hunter, who promptly drank his reward, got into a blue in the local pub and put an axe through the skull of some bloke who must not have shared his views on politics. Said bounty hunter was then forced to hop it with a price on his head. The bounty? Five gallons of rum. Ah, the demon drink.

Eventually, poor old John Caesar was shot and killed and while he faded somewhat into obscurity, he remains the first bushranger.

His equine namesake can’t join him by becoming his sire’s first winner – that ship has well and truly sailed – but the wraps on this horse are huge, so the bay may well yet get far more press attention than the Black.

As for Derrick Smith’s ‘absolution’, methinks Barbados based billionaires that buddy up to the likes of John Magnier and Michael Tabor, don’t lose too much sleep worrying about my approval, but kudos anyway.

Let this be the first of many.