Arabian contender makes an appearance (7)
I believe the answer is:
arrival
'an appearance' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'arabian contender' is the wordplay.
'arabian' becomes 'ar' (abbreviation in Chambers).
'contender' becomes 'rival' ('rival' can be a synonym of 'contender').
'ar'+'rival'='ARRIVAL'
'makes' is the link.
(Other definitions for arrival that I've seen before include "Appearance (at a place)" , "Attainment of destination" , "Entry" , "Act of coming" , "The A in ETA" .)