Stake cut head of elegant creature (8)
I believe the answer is:
antelope
'creature' is the definition.
(type of animal)
'stake cut head of elegant' is the wordplay.
'stake' becomes 'ante' (anteing is a kind of staking).
'cut' becomes 'lop' (lopping is a kind of cutting).
'head of' says to take the initial letters.
The initial letter of 'elegant' is 'e'.
'ante'+'lop'+'e'='ANTELOPE'
(Other definitions for antelope that I've seen before include "Odd toe panel of this hoofed animal" , "A graceful gazelle from Africa" , "A lone pet as a ruminant" , "A swift-running animal like gazelle" , "Reebok perhaps" .)