Decked out as a Middle Eastern citadel, the casbah lounge at Julia Creek's artesian express race day offered patrons plenty of delicacies and entertainment as well as good times with friends. Run in conjunction with the Dirt n Dust Festival, organisers estimated over 1000 people dressed up for the afternoon on Saturday, shimmying along with the belly dancers for the six-race program. Event coordinator Janene Fegan said they'd tagged the meeting as east meets north west, which suited the comfy but spicy image they wanted. "We had casino tables last year and they were a great hit, so we incorporated that again," she said. "The question is, where will the Julia Creek Turf Club take patrons next year." The Royes racing team, originally from Julia Creek but now at Richmond, won the Julia Creek Cup with Zoomaratta. ALSO READ: