The new lightning system at Cranbourne was given its first test yesterday and it’s been given a tentative thumbs up by industry participants.

Jockeys reported that some sections of the track required a little bit of tinkering but overall the infrastructure worked without a hitch.

There were 12 jumpouts at Cranbourne yesterday starting in the daylight and working through into the evening.

All up there are 45 light towers illuminating the track costing $6.7 million to implement.

Leading rider Craig Williams attended the jumpouts saying things felt safe and with an adjustment to the brightness of some towers things should be sweet for opening night on March 9th.

“You can always make anything as fraction better and with the technology they have here things can be fine-tuned,” Williams said.

“It’s going to be something that the Cranbourne community and the racing industry can be really proud about.”

Things were also given the tick approval from Racing Victoria Chief Operating Officer Bernard Saundry who said the response from the local community as pleasing.

In fact the on track spectators at yesterday’s trials were about equivalent to a midweeker at Sandown.

Those numbers will rise dramatically when full meets kick off in a season scheduled to run for six months from AFL grand final eve to mid April, every Friday night between Cranbourne and Moonee Valley.

Saundry said any lingering issues will be ironed out over the coming weeks given it was just the third time engineers had played with the system.

It took up to 15 visits for an equivalent system to be perfected at Canterbury.

“They’ll keep on coming back and fine tuning everything until they are completely satisfied, but it was an encouraging first trial,” Saundry said.