Sir jOhn is indeed extant and voluble, at least in electric cellulite text form. He, or his captors, sent me a text from his wander phone the other day advising me which the winning horse in the 3.50 at Donchesterfield would be, and that I should invest all the tea club money in same nag.

I'm happy to tell you that this horse, Euripedes or summat, romped home, and I'll never have to work again, so there.

Noone pretending to be Sir jOhn could be this fey, so I'm sure his excellence is alive and kicking.