My 1st choices are often over-bet, as I'm sure is common in many methods, so lately I've gotten into the habit of betting 2nd choices to win. Since I'd rather not sit and watch the tote board and bet in the last moments, betting 2nd choices gives me a better chance of betting an overlay than betting 1st choices without lessening my hit rate very much.
As is par for the course, my 2nd ranked selections outperformed my 1st ranked selections tonight. My 2nd choices had a hit rate of 3/7 winning the 4th 5th and 8th races collecting 19.10 for an R.O.I = 36%. (Or 1.36 as some folks say.)