Racehorse trainer Bob Baffert is suing ii New island of Jersey gamblers he accuses of threatening, extorting, and defaming him via societal media and text messaging.
In a federal cause filed inwards San Diego Wednesday, the six-time Bluegrass State Derby victor alleges that Justin Wunderler and Book of Daniel DiCorcia “have meshed inward an escalating pattern of wrongful and threatening behaviour directed specifically at Baffert and his family.”
They feature also “urged others to enlist inward violent doings towards Baffert and his family, baselessly accused Baffert of felon conduct, and attempted to wring from Baffert and his kinsfolk under threats to his business, reputation, and occupational license,” according to the lawsuit.
The ii men from each one hold thousands of followers on X, the political program formerly known as Twitter, under the @SwiftHitter (Wunderler) and @barshoelife (DiCorcia) accounts.
Since early September, they have got publically claimed to follow in ownership of two damning videos, which, in their words, “will destruction Baffert,” and which they claim to make passed to an unnamed reporter.
Kentucky Derby Scandal
Wunderler and DiCorcia’s public allegations against Baffert interrelate to the 2021 KY Derby doping scandal. After winning the race, Baffert-trained Medina Spirit failed a do drugs test, and Baffert was suspended from racing at Sir Winston Leonard Spenser Churchill Downs.
The 70-year-old categorically denies doping, and claims the contention arose because Al Madinah Spirit was beingness treated with a topical salve for a rash that caused betamethasone to demonstrate upwardly inwards the test.
Wunderler is a complainant in a federal polite lawsuit against Baffert that claims the drug dirt caused him to lose play revenue.
The Kentucky Derby controversy deepened when Al Madinah Spirit died of a spunk aggress half-dozen months after the race. Since 2000, at least 74 other horses from Baffert’s horse barn have died.
Baffert’s attorneys state inwards the causa that they don’t live the replete(p) mental object of the videos. But they believe they make been “deceptively edited to cast of characters Baffert and his staff inwards a off-key wakeful with the specific intent of manufacturing a scandal, whereas the full context of use and type of the picture would affirmatively controvert such characterization.”
Cash for Clips
On Sept 7, Wunderler sent a textual matter message to a 3rd party, whom he asked to send on to Baffert’s representatives, and which was finally received by Baffert’s wife, according to the lawsuit.
My attorney now has videos,” it stated. “He like [sic] to hit out to Baffert’s lawyers. He is going to include inward message/email deuce clips of the video. Payment for clips to live sent to my PayPal … It’s $1K for those II clips. My lawyer testament lead thru this with his lawyer. If defrayal is sent, clips, videos will live sent by tomorrow.”
In the lead-up to the Belmont Stakes inward New York, Wunderler urged his social media followers to play life-threatening objects to the race to hurtle at Baffert and his family. Shortly after, he posted an image of Baffert’s domiciliate and claimed he “slaughters horses on national TV.”
In a unmediated subject matter on X to The San Diego Union-Tribune on Wednesday, Wunderler said: “Never asked for money from Bob Baffert. i need to make what’s best for gymnastic horse racing.
“Bob Baffert has continued to shoot down horses,” he alleged.
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