I agree that there are definitely horses who \"like\" to run second. I\'m not sure \"like\" is the right word since it is impossible to devine what a horse may prefer. All that we know is that certain horses, for whatever reason, tend to run second. As an example, the oldtimers on this Board may remember Jacques Who (he ran about 20 consecutive seconds in New York, if memory serves).
Although I have a different approach, there is nothing wrong with keying a horse in a position other than the top spot. In playing a horse in only the win slot, you are narrowing an exotic ticket by choosing a particular finishing position for your horse. While a player may take pride in selecting the winner, no style points will be awarded at the mutual window. Moreover, there may be times when a horse has a greater chance to hit a given underneath position than any other horse has to win. Based upon his prior races, you suggest that Nehro could be keyed in the second hole and you could very well be right.
As always, good luck.
Albany