If he had been racing frequently along with being in training since September then I would fully be on board with him having a break.
That being said lets not get carried away in thinking that in lieu of him only getting no further than the second hurdle in his only NH race that they compensated for that by working him harder than normal at home……..also take into account that they would have given him a decent break following his Newcastle fall to get over that and along with the odd schooling session I would think he was probably doing something like half to three quarter speed work maybe two or even three times a week the rest of the time. Trainers just don’t push their horses in their work at home because it more often than not would be counter productive when it came to actually going racing.
I would have much rather Hendo just came out and said we are going to wait until the Autumn when the ground should be easier for him and then we will make up for lost time by giving him an agressive campaign of three or even four races (rising through the various grades) to find out just how good he could be on the flat.