Old Friends and New Vocations, two Thoroughbred aftercare organizations with major presences in the Lexington, Ky., area, have entered into a partnership to allow both to better place retired racehorses, depending on the horse’s specific needs.

New Vocations rehabilitates, re-trains, and re-homes retired racehorses into suitable second careers. Old Friends is mainly a retirement facility, best known for its roster of pensioned stallions. Under the partnership arrangement, a horse donated to Old Friends who is suitable for a second career may be re-homed through New Vocations.

Willow Woodman, dam of three stakes winners, died March 31 due to the infirmities of old age. The Woodman mare was 23.

A winner during her own racing career, Willow Woodman produced 10 winners from 11 starters, including Grade 2 winner Willow O Wisp, by Misnomer; and stakes winners Will O Way, by Broken Vow, and Kizzy's Chaos, by Evansville Slew.

Multiple Grade 2 winner Cluster of Stars was named the 2013 New York-bred Horse of the Year on Tuesday by New York Thoroughbred Breeders Inc.

That award and other divisional honors were presented at the breed organization’s annual awards banquet at the Saratoga National Golf Club in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The winners in each division were selected by a group of voters including New York turf writers, handicappers, and racing analysts.

Grade 2 winner My Gi Gi has been retired from racing, and will be bred to Medaglia d’Oro with the intent to sell the mare at this year’s Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall selected mixed sale.

The 5-year-old E Dubai mare finishes her career with two wins in 18 career starts for earnings of $334,290. She was campaigned for the majority of her career by Dennis Conner and Wade Jacobsen, and was trained by Peter Eurton.

Mutakddim, a Group 2-placed stakes winner and a prominent sire in North and South America, died at Haras La Quebrada in Buenos Aires, Argentina, due to the infirmities of old age, Racing Post reports. The Seeking the Gold horse was 23.

Bred in Kentucky by Deerlawn Farm, Carloss, and Lamont, Mutakddim was purchased by Sheikh Hamdan al-Maktoum’s Shadwell Estate Co. for $200,000 at the 1992 Keeneland July yearling sale. He was sent to Ireland for breaking, then was moved to England to begin his racing career.

Among the wobbly-legged foals taking their first steps early in 2012, two were greeted with royal-baby levels of anticipation by the racing world. Those are the first foals, both colts, of Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta – Horse of the Year honorees in 2009 and 2010 and among the most popular runners of the modern era.

As the U.S. breeding sector continues to rebound from the dolorous depths of 2008-10, several changes have become evident with regard to the hierarchy of stallions and the appeal of certain sire lines.

Ever since American breeders began to shy away from breeding to grass horses, especially foreign-bred ones, in the mid-1990s, European-breds have increasingly dominated our best turf races. Among the three North American turf races for males specifically designed to attract foreign runners, horses trained in Europe have won 11 of the last 14 Breeders’ Cup Turfs, nine of the last 14 Canadian Internationals, and six of the last 14 Arlington Millions.

Bertrando, who received the Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding older male of 1993 and was a former leading stallion in California, died recently of infirmities of old age, owner Marty Wygod said on Friday.

Multiple Grade 1 winner Jackson Bend’s comeback bid has come to an end, with co-owner Fred Brei announcing the horse’s retirement on Thursday to Florida Horse magazine.

The 7-year-old son of Hear No Evil was being considered for the Grade 1 Carter Handicap on April 5 at Aqueduct before the decision was made to retire him.