The Celebrity Angle

Winning bettors may have wanted to kiss the jockey when 10-3 Digpast won the Ontario Amateur Riders Handicap in England on Feb. 1—and the urge may have become even stronger when they realized: Hey, hey, he's a Monkee! Davy Jones, the 5'3" pop icon of the 1960s, has no plans for a pro career, but cheer up, sleepy Jean, he will continue riding as an amateur. That puts Jones in the fine company of other celebs who have given competitive sports a whirl:

BRUCE DICKINSON: The heavy-metal hero of the band Iron Maiden went to lighter material and in 1989 became England's seventh-ranked foil fencer.

BING CROSBY: He's dreaming of a light driver...just like the one he used to qualify for the British Amateur in 1951.

DON JOHNSON: A passion for warp-speed powerboating is the actor-hunk's Miami vice; he won the world offshore championships in 1988.

PAUL NEWMAN: When the salad dressing czar turned to race car driving in the early '70s and became a four-time winner of the Sports Club of America championships, the verdict was in: He's no hustler.

SIMON LE BON: Duran Duran never recorded Sailing, but the group's heartthrob lead singer finished third in the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1986.

MICKEY ROURKE: It has been more than 9½ weeks since the actor turned pro boxer; in fact, he's 8-0-2 since he began fighting in 1991.

OMAR SHARIF: In 1962 he got a supporting-actor Oscar nod for Lawrence of Arabia. Bridge partners like his support, too—he's an International Master.