Travesty of race had to be sorted out (7)
I believe the answer is:
charade
'travesty' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'race had to be sorted out' is the wordplay.
'to be sorted out' indicates anagramming the letters.
'race'+'had'='racehad'
'racehad' with letters rearranged gives 'CHARADE'.
'of' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for charade that I've seen before include "Total pretence (as in game)" , "Ludicrous pretence" , "sham" , "Ridiculous pretence" , "Word-guessing riddle" .)