We exploit the separation of the filtering and control aspects of quantum
feedback control to consider the optimal control as a classical stochastic
problem on the space of quantum states. We derive the corresponding
Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equations using the elementary arguments of classical
control theory and show that this is equivalent, in the Stratonovich calculus,
to a stochastic Hamilton-Pontryagin setup. We show that, for cost functionals
that are linear in the state, the theory yields the traditional Bellman
equations treated so far in quantum feedback.