The Patrick Prendergast trained War Hero overcame a mid-winter bout of seconditis to win the Shabra Charity Race at Dundalk this evening, when justifying 4/5 favouritism to win under jockey Ronan Whelan.

The son of Declaration of War was a winner at the venue last November but then filled the runner-up spot on each of his next three starts. Today, Whelan elected to make the running on War Hero and in the end the pair held the challenge to Boragh Steps to win by a length and three parts.

Prendergast later stated "Ronan (Whelan) said it will do his confidence a lot of good; he is a very genuine horse but it's good for him to win after finishing second three times in row.

"This was an afterthought as the plan was to win last week and then freshen him up, but I saw this race and said I'd put him in it. I was surprised at the ratings that he slotted in so nicely and I couldn't resist.

"He deserves a little break now; we might find one more race up here and then wait for the dry ground, which could be a while!"

Quotes from Alan Magee