The connections of Buzzsaw Russ have announced that the two-time Indiana Sire Stakes champion pacer has been retired following an injury sustained this past spring.
Purchased as a yearling during the 2021 Hoosier Classic Yearling Sale by Indiana's Russ Beeman of Anderson and Charles Weaver of Marion, the Missy Essig-trained gelded son of Rockin Image-Up Front Cruiser exploded onto the scene at two, winning four of his nine starts, including the $270,000 Indiana Sire Stakes Super Final with regular driver John De Long over career rival Coach Stefanos.
After depositing $235,460 into the bank at age two, Buzzsaw Russ returned as a three-year-old with a quarter-million-dollar season. Buzzsaw Russ won four of his 17 races at three, including matching the track record for three-year-old pacing geldings at Harrah's Hoosier Park with a 1:48.2 career-best clocking against Indiana Sire Stakes company on July 21, 2023. Buzzsaw Russ proved he could take on Grand Circuit competition, hitting the board with a third-place effort in the Carl Milstein Memorial at Northfield Park that season behind winner Seven Colours.
Buzzsaw Russ again banked six figures at ages four and five, tacking on his second Indiana Sire Stakes final in 2025 with a win in the Aged Pace in a field that included the likes of Little Rocket Man, Coach Stefanos and Ponda Warrior. He was also stakes-placed in the Dan Patch Stakes, Jim Ewart Memorial, Dayton Derby, Robert J. Kane Memorial Pace and Hoosier Park Pacing Derby during his aged campaign.
Buzzsaw Russ, who last raced on May 1, 2026, retired at age six with $999,370 in career earnings, winning 18 of 61 lifetime starts while hitting the board a total of 43 times.
(With files from Hoosier Park; photo of Buzzsaw Russ winning the Indiana Sire Stakes Super Final as a two-year-old)