In it, viewers heard Johnson’s unmistakable call of the 1995 Travers Stakes Race from Saratoga Springs, NY, as Queen Elizabeth II watches on television, disappointed that her preferred Cheltenham Gold Cup horse race will not air on the BBC, which bumped it for the race Johnson called. Specifically, Mollica said, Johnson’s voice was used around the 32:36 mark in season 5’s episode 8 titled “Gunpowder,” which was released last November. Mollica told SVG that both Johnson’s voice and his trademarked exclamation - as familiar to horse-race fans as Phil Rizzuto’s “Holy Cow!” was to Yankees fans of a certain age, Dick Vitale’s “Are you serious!?” and Michael Buffer’s “Let’s get ready to rumble!” (which he also trademarked) - are an inextricable part of the announcer’s professional value. Through his attorney, Andrew Mollica, Johnson sued the streaming platform and several related entities and persons for the “intentional, and wrongful use” of his “voice and persona, without his written consent,” in the New York County Supreme Court on October 18. Horse-racing announcer legend Dave Johnson’s signature - and formally trademarked - line “And down the stretch they come!” was used, along with his voice uttering it, in an episode of the Netflix series The Crown.
Horse-racing announcer legend Dave Johnson
