Horse Racing Legend Sues Amazon Over 'Tacky' Shirt, You Stole My Catchphrase!

An Amazon spokesperson declined to directly address the lawsuit, but told us ... "Amazon respects intellectual property rights and requires selling partners to do the same when listing items for sale on Amazon. Any selling partner that has violated our policies will be held accountable."

The guy who created the horse racing catchphrase "And down the stretch they come" is suing Amazon.com ... claiming the company jacked his signature call to make a crappy "tacky" shirt.

The man behind the suit is Dave Johnson -- who's been calling horse races for more then 40 years! Johnson famously created the call and uses it at the biggest races in the sport from the Kentucky Derby to the Preakness and the Belmont.

Johnson says he owns the trademark for the phrase intended to block other people from profiting from his work.

But, DJ is now declaring war on Amazon -- claiming they began selling a "Down the Stretch They Come" shirt in 2018 without his permission ... and he's pissed.

In fact, Johnson trashes the shirt as a "tacky, low quality, over-priced" item that's tarnishing his good name.

Johnson points out other broadcasters who have ferociously protected their catchphrases ... from Dick Vitale's "Awesome baby" to Michael Buffer's "Let's Get Ready to Rumble!"

Now, Johnson wants a judge to stop Amazon from selling the shirt -- noting he wants all remaining shirts to be recalled and destroyed ASAP.

He also wants ALL of the profits Amazon has made from the shirt ... plus additional damages.