WE must all resolve to do better from time to time, and the best time to do so is after a period of self-reflection, usually after a particular failure of moral or intestinal fortitude, which produces a strong desire to avoid a repeat.

The time not to make resolutions is after eating 18lb of turkey in various guises and drinking a bottle and a half of advocaat, which is where most people go so badly wrong with New Year’s resolutions. The first day of January, coming as it does with a thumping headache and peculiar but familiar feeling of self-loathing, is not the day to try to change your life.

As an enlightened person, I’ve waited at least a week after the festivities have finished before setting out my resolutions for the year so as not to make the mistakes hinted at above, and I’m confident - well, hopeful – well, cautiously optimistic about keeping the faith through the year ahead.

Of course, it’s easy to make nebulous resolutions: “be a better person”, “make more money”, “invent something the world can’t do without”, but it’s the specifics that tend to be more helpful in that regard. “Don’t bet at any racecourse beginning with the letter ‘B’” may sound random, but is excellent advice.

Bath, Brighton and Beverley are places I never need to see again and I doubt I could make it pay at Belmont Park or Bordeaux-Le-Bouscat either.

That was one of last year’s resolutions, however, so I need more, and I want the focus to be as much on what I write in this august newsletter as what I do personally, so here goes.

If you don’t like a race,

don’t suggest a bet in it

The preview I write here every Saturday focuses solely on ITV racing, and that won’t change, but just because a race is on television, or even is a Grade 1, it doesn’t mean that it’s a betting race, and I’ll be giving shorter shrift to races that don’t appeal to me where I can focus on better opportunities.

In truth, I often write such races up without suggesting a bet, but there is a tendency to assume that whichever horse is highlighted must be of betting interest, so I’ll do less highlighting even if races like the Christmas Hurdle demand a paragraph or two, just to show that they exist.

Don’t be afraid to back two horses in the same race

That’ll do nicely. For me, there are two basic ways of approaching a race from a betting perspective – there is either a horse I particularly like, for various reasons, or there is a short-priced horse I want to oppose, which leads me to another selection, and a bad favourite often thrown up more than one overpriced runner.

In reality, I tend to back more than one horse in that scenario, but I’ve always tended to choose one selection when writing up a race for my weekend preview.

If I’m going to back two horses, I ought to tip those two horses rather than merely give a nod to what I believe to be a danger, so I pledge to put up two selections in races where that offers a value approach, rather than keeping it simple with one bet per race.

That is an approach that makes much more sense than forcing bets in races which are particularly tricky, so we’ll see how that pans out.

Get racing once a fortnight

There is no better way of sharpening the senses and gaining fresh perspective than going racing and, for various reasons, I’ve not been to the track as much as I should in recent years. That has largely been due to health issues, but it gets far too easy to make excuses and get stuck in a rut, and in the house, when there are better and healthier avenues available.

I’m feeling better - touch wood - than I have for a long time, and I should take advantage of that by getting to the track and becoming reacquainted with men and horses I have known (with apologies to the Hon. George Lambton).

That will have a beneficial effect on my physical wellbeing, I know, while the mental health benefits cannot be underestimated.

I’m aware that I could have been on a downward spiral a year or so ago and needed to be pulled out of that, so it’s important to me not to take my wellbeing for granted, and making the effort to go racing – ideally more than twice a month – is an important aspect in maintaining that.

Back Spillane’s Tower

for the Ryanair Chase

Now, here is a specific one. The time to think about Cheltenham is only when the entries come out in early January onward and the first big clue in those entries was the decision of connections to enter Spillane’s Tower in just the Ryanair, thereby avoiding any temptation to go for the Gold Cup in March. The seven-year-old may well be a Blue Riband prospect in a year’s time, but he’s young and Jimmy Mangan has taken the correct decision to follow what might be termed the Imperial Commander route.

Fact To File is as short as 6/4 for the Ryanair, but is surely more likely to run in the longer race if he performs well in the Irish Gold Cup, while if he’s well-beaten in that contest, he won’t make so much appeal in any case.

For ante-post backers, it’s essentially a lose/lose for the Ryanair, and the 8/1 available about Spillane’s Tower - just half a length behind Fact To File in a stellar John Durkan Memorial – is tremendous value in a race where very few appeal from a win perspective.

The selection is a bigger price than he should be, having been unplaced in a messy King George. He wasn’t seen to anything like best effect there, hampered early on, and promises to be suited by a well-run two miles and five furlongs on Cheltenham’s New Course.