The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 4 plus 2 plus 3 plus 8 letter word TAKE TIME BY THE FORELOCK
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
T
A
K
E
T
I
M
E
B
Y
T
H
E
F
O
R
E
L
O
C
K
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Seize the chance" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case seize the chance = take time by the forelock.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.