Race had become a farce (7)
I believe the answer is:
charade
'a farce' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'race had become' is the wordplay.
'become' is an anagram indicator.
'race'+'had'='racehad'
'racehad' with letters rearranged gives 'CHARADE'.
(Other definitions for charade that I've seen before include "Blatant deception" , "Ludicrous pretence" , "Pretence - travesty" , "Sustained pretence" , "absurd act" .)