A fair race (5)
I believe the answer is:
danes
'a fair race' is the definition.
(people from Denmark typically have fair hair)
'a fair' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'a' could be 'an' and 'an' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'des' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
(Other definitions for danes that I've seen before include "people in Copenhagen" , "Sedan (anag.)" , "Vikings" , "Natives of, eg, Copenhagen" , "Europeans who inhabit Andes" .)