Pace of favourite stewards initially raised (4)
I believe the answer is:
step
'pace' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'favourite stewards initially raised' is the wordplay.
'favourite' becomes 'pet' (synonyms).
'initially' indicates taking the first letters.
'raised' says the letters should be written backwards.
The first letter of 'stewards' is 's'.
'pet'+'s'='pets'
'pets' reversed gives 'STEP'.
'of' is the link.
(Other definitions for step that I've seen before include "some progress" , "Action of the leg" , "Footprint" , "Section of flight" , "Pest (anag.)" .)