Unplaced horse (4-3)
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">unplaced horse</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">(I've seen this before)</span><br/ ><br/ >This is all the clue.<br/ ></span>
(Other definitions for also-ran that I've seen before include "Of racing horse, not placed in first three" , "Poor performer in race" , "Unplaced horse" , "Not placed among the leaders" , "One of the losers" .)
(Another definition for alsoran that I've seen is " failure?".)