Losers (4-4)
I believe the answer is:
also-rans
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">losers</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">('also-ran' can be a synonym of 'loser')</span><br/ ><br/ >This is all the clue.<br/ ></span>
(Other definitions for also-rans that I've seen before include "They do not finish in the first three" , "Non-placed entrants" , "They're not placed among the first three" , "They don't win the race" .)