BENIE Des Dieux provided Willie Mullins with his first ever winner at Carlisle with a dominant front-running display in the Houghton Mares' Chase.

Ireland's perennial champion trainer had saddled just one previous runner at the Cumbrian circuit, with Grade 1-winning mare Gitane Du Berlais a beaten odds-on favourite in this listed contest in 2015.

Benie Des Dieux was a prohibitively-priced 8/13 market leader on her first appearance since making a winning debut for Mullins and leading owner Rich Ricci at Limerick in December last year, but those who took the cramped odds will have had few concerns.

The six-year-old jumped accurately at the head of affairs, producing some extravagant leaps during the two-and-a-half-mile contest to put pressure on her opponents.

With her main rival Lastbutnotleast pulled up in the back straight, Benie Des Dieux readily pulled eight lengths clear of the rest under David Mullins, with Tacenda filling the runner-up spot.