Spirit Of Bermuda endured an underwhelming return to action after finishing eighth in the British Stallion Studs EBF Fillies’ Handicap at York Racecourse.

The three-year-old filly, owned by Bermuda Racing Ltd, and ridden by Tom Marquand, headed into the seven-furlong race as 7-2 betting favourite, after an impressive victory at Newmarket in her previous outing on July 10.

However, she failed to live up to her pre-race expectations, as despite being in a promising position in the early stages of the Class 2 race, run on good ground, she weakened in the final two furlongs to fade out of contention and finish five lengths adrift of the race winner.

Sweet Enough — the 5-1 second favourite — who tracked the leaders out of the gate before taking the lead inside the final furlong, held off the challenge from Improvised (9-2) to prevail in a winning time of 1min 23sec.

Rising Star, a strong outside bet at 17-2, who improved further to score for the first time as a three-year-old at Musselburgh last month, took third, having led over the first three furlongs.

The disappointing result for the Bermudian-owned thoroughbred, a 210,000 guineas purchase at Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up in June last year, could be partly blamed on the effects of an extended 40-day period of inactivity before her return to the racecourse.

Scheduled races in the South of France and then at Glorious Goodwood both fell through owing to a combination of restrictive Covid-19 quarantine and unfavourable soft ground.

Trained by William Haggas, Spirit Of Bermuda — who is part of the same syndicate as Queen Of Bermuda, Pink Sands and Skymax — had enjoyed success over the same distance coming into the race, having followed up a second career victory Leicester Racecourse on July 1, with another impressive win at Newmarket nine days later.