Winx, the winner of 17 consecutive races and the world’s top-rated turf horse, will have her first start of the 2017-18 Australian season in Saturday’s Group 2 Warwick Stakes at seven furlongs on turf at Royal Randwick Racecourse outside of Sydney. The 6-year-old Winx will be a heavy favorite against seven rivals in the $197,050 Warwick Stakes, a race she won in 2016 at the start of an eight-race campaign. Post time is 10 p.m., Friday, Pacific. Trained by Chris Waller, Winx has not raced since winning the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick on April 8, her fourth win this calendar year. The main goal in coming months is a third consecutive win in the Group 1 Cox Plate at about 1 1/4 miles on turf at Moonee Valley Racecourse on Oct. 28. The Cox Plate is considered Australia’s top weight-for-age race. Kingston Town is the only horse to win three consecutive runnings of the Cox Plate, doing so from 1980-82. Even with her lengthy winning streak, Winx is far behind Black Caviar, the all-time Australian leader who was undefeated with 25 wins from 2009-2013. Winx, who is by Street Cry, will be ridden by regular rider Hugh Bowman. Waller also starts the 4-year-old filly Foxplay, who won the Group 1 Queen of the Turf Stakes at Randwick on April 8. Winx and Foxplay are the only females in the field. Ecuador, an 8-year-old gelding, has won 10 of 34 starts, but was 16th of 20 in the Group 1 Doncaster Mile at Randwick on April 1 in his latest start. Winx is the highest-rated turf horse and leading female on the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings published earlier this month. She was rated at 132, slightly below Arrogate, the winner of the Pegasus World Cup and Dubai World Cup earlier this year, who was rated at 134. Arrogate starts in Saturday’s $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar.