TRAINER HAS TO FOLLOW ORDERS : INDA SAYS LUTHIER FEVER WON'T JUST CLUTTER UP BIG RACE.

Byline: Kevin Modesti

Luthier Fever, that four-footed embarrassment of riches, is yet another trainer's problem now.

Trained by Gary Jones when he won the California Cup Classic last fall, by a grateful Ted West when he finished second at 64-1 in the Santa Anita Handicap in March, and by a reluctant West when he barely finished the Hollywood Gold Cup in June, the horse is with Eduardo Inda at Del Mar preparing to face Cigar in the $1 million Pacific Classic on Aug. 10.

West, like Jones before him, had enough of Luthier Fever's owners, the Lanzagorta brothers of Mexico City, rejecting his advice to give up their shameless pursuit of an ill-conceived purse bonus for running in the Big 'Cap, the Gold Cup and the Pacific Classic.

West's loss is Inda's gain, or is it?

``He's a very nice horse,'' Inda said on the phone Thursday morning.

But, the trainer added quickly, ``He's not 100 percent like he was for the Santa Anita Handicap.''

He went on: ``The problem is, we have the bonus . . .'' There's something you don't often hear.

In other words, Inda, like West, finds himself running a horse in a major race he has little chance to win, simply because he can earn a lot of money for showing up.

Of course, the villain here isn't Luthier Fever, an athletic-looking 5-year-old with nearly $650,000 in earnings; or Inda, 53, a native of Chile who built a reputation for sharp and compassionate horsemanship as Ron McAnally's assistant before opening his own barn last summer; or even the Lanzagorta brothers' human nature.

The problem is the rules of one of the MGM Grand Classic Crown series' two bonus offers.

The primary bonus is OK: It promised $2 million to the owners of a horse who won all three of Southern California's major main-track races for older horses in 1996. Mr Purple won the Big 'Cap in a stretch-running upset. Siphon won the Gold Cup while Mr Purple was eased. So no $2 million bonus will be paid this year.

The so-called ``participation bonus'' is troubling: It earmarks $500,000 to be distributed to the top four point earners - based on performance - among horses who start all three races. Only Mr Purple, Luthier Fever and Helmsman ran in the Big 'Cap and the Gold Cup. Mr Purple is injured.

Helmsman, second at Santa Anita and third at Hollywood Park, has eight points to Luthier Fever's seven. Under the bonus formula, whichever horse posts the better finish in the Pacific Classic will earn a $333,350 check, and the other will get $166,650. And if one of them doesn't race, the survivor will collect the whole $500,000.

Fine, unless the horse does nothing more to earn his windfall than clutter up the racetrack and draw wagers from unsuspecting fans.

Before the Gold Cup, Ted West Jr., his father's assistant, said they recommended skipping the race because Luthier Fever was ``not 100 percent.''

Sound familiar?

Inda promises the horse, to be ridden by Brice Blanc, will not simply jog out of the gate and hang a right turn to the purse paymaster's office - although the fine print says he need only ``start.'' He won't take the money and not run. Inda also assures us that Luthier Fever is not injured or in danger of hurting himself by racing.

But the horse has ``lost weight'' since the Big 'Cap. And Inda can't guarantee a good performance.

``It's very hard to say right now,'' Inda said. ``I'm going to do the best I can to get him to the race and to run a good race.''

So why doesn't he stand up to the Lanzagortas, who are friends of friends of Inda's?

``It's very hard for me to do that,'' said Inda, who, like any trainer struggling to built a business, can hardly say no to the owners of four horses, including Luthier Fever, the most talented member of the 18-horse barn. ``So far, right now, I'm not in Gary Jones' position. If I was in the same position as Gary Jones, I might do something like that.''

For now, Inda said, ``I have to run him for the owners. That's my responsibility.''

Inda stands to earn a fraction of Luthier Fever's bonus. He said he and the Lanzagortas haven't discussed how much he'll get for his trouble.

Notes: Alpride, near the million-dollar mark in career earnings, is assigned a race-high 119 pounds among six fillies and mares entered in Saturday's $300,000 Ramona Handicap at Del Mar. She and Chris McCarron drew post five going 1-1/8 miles on turf against Real Connection, Pourquoi Pas, Matiara, Angel in My Heart and Radu Cool. . . . Del Mar expects just three or four horses - Gold and Steel, Smooth Runner, Wavy Run and maybe Big Sky Jim - to try to keep Fastness from winning a second straight running of the $300,000 Eddie Read Handicap on Sunday. The race is the Ramona's male twin. . . .

In what might be a first, the top 10 horses in this week's Thoroughbred Racing Communications poll all began their U.S. careers in California. . . . Serena's Song, who beat colts in the '95 Haskell, will run in the Whitney Handicap Saturday at Saratoga. With the gender allowance, she'll carry five pounds less than Peaks and Valleys' race-high 121. . . . Lindy Lane and driver Bill O'Donnell are favored in Saturday's $1.2 million Hambletonian, harness racing's most famous event, at the Meadowlands.

MEMO: Staff Writer Kevin Modesti's horse racing column appears on Fridays.