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JOCKEY WINS LIBEL SUIT Australian Eider Obtains Judgement for ,500 Against Employer Who Defamed Him. Jockey T. Darcy, an Australian rider, recently .won a suit against P. A. Connolly, an owner, for libel at Perth, Australia, and was awarded damages of ,500. The Sydney Iieferees account of the case follows: P. A. Connolly won 12,775 in stakes at the recent Perth Cup, but, unless he appeals, and is successful, that amount -will not cover the costs of the case in which the jockey, T. Darcy, was awarded ,500 damages against him in Perth for alleged libel. The evidence was of a most contradictory nature, positive statements made by one side being absolutely denied by the other. At different times Mr. Connolly has made statements that reflected badly on the state of the turf in West Australia, and these have been resented by many racing men over there. He has had the opportunity of proving some of his charges in the law courts, and it must have been a shock for him when the jury decided that so far as Darcy was concerned, the matter complained of was defamatory; that he Connolly was actuated by malice; and that the libel was untrue in substance and fact. About the most interesting bit of evidence in the case was the allegation of J. J. OMara trainer for Mr. Connolly that when he was clerk of the course at Belmont Park in 1915 Darcy proposed to give him a parcel of quicksilver weighing fifteen pounds at the barrier, and have it handed back to him Darcy when the horses pulled up after the race. This, o course, meant that the horse ridden by Darcy would carry fifteen pounds less than its proper weight. OMara said he was offered ,000 to fall in with tho suggestion, in which he alleged a man named Fred Wheeler was also concerned. Darcy flatly denied OMaras statement and the latter was somewhat surprised when in court he was shown a large ginger beer bottle full of quicksilver, and was told that inclusive of the bottle, the weight was onlv thirteen and a half pounds. He evidently-had no idea of the bulkiness of the parcel he was asked to handle. Wheeler said it was impossible for him to have had anything to do with the proposal, as he was not in Perth at the time negotiations were said to have been going on.
