American Pharoah -- Gets Private Security Team ... We Got Your Tail Covered!

He's already got an entourage ... now American Pharoah has a private security team too -- hired to watch the horse's back in the days before the biggest race of his life.

TMZ Sports has learned ... the people who own American Pharoah hired a private security company to keep an eye on A.P. just to make sure nobody screws with him before the Belmont Stakes.

We spoke with Ashley Zayat, whose family owns Pharoah -- and she tells us, "He has a large group of people following him -- so the security is there to protect him from camera flashes and loud noises, which he doesn't like. And there are a lot of people around, you never know what someone might do."

There's more ... Pharoah also has a team of personal assistants who tend to the horse 24/7 -- "In case he needs anything. If he's hungry, thirsty ... if he gets restless, and needs to be walked around, they'll do that."

#Diva