Secret’s Weapon is a mare competing in the 2026 6yo class at the WBFSH World Breeding Championships, ridden by Evelyn Eger for Germany.
Yesterday we looked at two of the competitors also by Secret, who were out of De Niro mares, which prompted thoughts that perhaps the Secret / De Niro combination is a new nick.
The two Secrets we are looking at today are not out of De Niro mares and a quick look at Secrets best progeny so far – he has 27 PSG competitiors – showed only a couple of them are by De Niro so perhaps talk of a nick is premature.
The pedigree of Secrets Weapon is – Secret / Sir Donnerhall / Weltmeyer / Wendekreis / Bolero / Grande.
This mare is from a very important dam line – the Duellheldin mare family. Duellheldin is the dam of famous mare Marbel and we have written an article on the Marbel mare family on our website for those who are interested.
These Wendekreis / Bolero/Grande lines are very old but are still driving so many top horses today.
The fourth dam Ballerina on the falling dam line here is a full sister in blood to Beltain – the sire of Belissimo M who is leaving his own important sons to breed on with.
Fifth dam Granne is a three quarter sister to famous mare Ganseliesel and her brother Garibaldi II. This mare line has left a dynasty of top GP horses, stallion sons and pivotal broodmares, including Wolkenstein II, Brentano II, Bon Vivaldi, Hendrix, Furstentaz, White Star, and multiple FEI competitors and jumpers.
In this position on the falling tail line, Granne is carrying vital mitochondrial DNA which can only pass on the falling dam line – never from the stallion – and Secrets Weapon is the lucky recipient of this bounty. Superior mitochondrial DNA from important families can be the decider on whether a horse will end up a champion.
As a mare, Secrets Weapon could be absolutely vital in carrying on the legacy of this female line by bringing it in through a new branch and via different individuals. It is so important to keep these famous mare lines alive. Fashionable stallion lines rapidly come and go, but the female families hold their structural integrity and consistency for generations. They can lapse into obscurity for some years, but can be put back into circulation when these mares produce stallion sons, who disseminate the qualities of the dam and the mare lines through their progeny. In this way the dam line of a popular stallion can be be reinstated through her sons progeny, and remain influential.
Secret’s Weapon is out of a Sir Donnerhall mare which results in Sandro Hit at 4 x 3 through sons only.
Donnerhall is at 6 x 7 x 4 with Sir Donnerhall’s dam saving the day with a daughter line here.
Secret himself has a male overload in Absatz sons at 7 x 8 x 6 x 5, as the sire of Akzent II , Argentan and as grandsire of Argentinus. Secret’s own main line breeding is to Argentan at 7 x 5 x 4 sex balanced through a son and a daughter.
Weltmeyer is important in mates for Secret because he comes to the rescue with his Absatz dam sire and sex balances the Absatz line with the daughter on the 5th generation here. Secret does something in return for Weltmeyer as well – he provides a Woermann daughter on his 6th generation which sex balances this line in Weltmeyer, and it could also prove very valuable for mares that have the common problem of an overload of male lines through World Cup sons.
Weltmeyer also brings a Lugano I daughter to accompany the Lugano II daughter on Secrets dam line, both at 7 x 7.
Other influences include the Holstein interactions between Sir Donnerhalls dam line with Lionell in Sezuan.
Sir Donnerhall has holstein blood through Feldherr, Rio Negro and Ratibor. Lionell on the 5th generation in Sezuan combines many of the same bloodlines, being, Farnese, Moltke, Fax I and Ladykiller.
Sir Donnerhall’s dam also has a very valuable Ladykiller daughter which helps counteract the male overload of this line in Sezuan. Many of Sir Donnerhall’s special qualities could be coming from his Holstein blood and it explains his affinity with mares that carry Holstein blood.
Secrets Weapon has a Wendekreis daughter on her 4th generation and Rotspon contributes another daughter line on his 4th generation.
The Bolero / Grande / Duellant bloodlines from the Marbel family are not reinforced in this mating but they certainly could be in this mares future progeny.
It is a solid pedigree design that continues to give breeders ideas as to what bloodlines are working with Secret himself.