Philadelphia, PA -- (Sports Network) - Talking to one of the other writers at The Sports Network after it was announced that Santa Anita Handicap winner Heatseeker had been retired, he expressed disappointment in the likely field for this year's Breeders' Cup Classic.

This year's Classic will be conducted on the synthetic track at Santa Anita Park which may force defending champ Curlin to shift to a turf race. His connections, trainer Steve Asmussen and majority owner Jess Jackson, are looking to keep him from running on all-weather surfaces.

Asmussen and Jackson are serious about Curlin making a start on turf, he had a workout Tuesday morning on the Churchill Downs turf course. The four-year-old is being pointed toward a start in the France's Prix de lArc de Triomphe in October.

"We were very excited to work him, he's a tremendous athlete," Asmussen said. "We were very pleased with how he looked. The main thing is that Robby (Albarado) loved how he felt."

In preparation for that race Asmussen is considering entering Curlin in the Arlington Handicap on Saturday, July 12. Licensing problems in Illinois would cause Asmussen to alter the colt's schedule.

"The perfect plan for us, for me, for Curlin and for everybody associated with him is to first establish his level of quality on the turf with his next race and not get ahead of ourselves," Asmussen said. "We have to see if he can compete at the same level, a nice work is not a graded stake. If he can compete at his level on the turf and we get the race that we expect, we will map out how to win the Arc with him. I think that getting him over there immediately and getting him used to going right (on right-handed turns) would be the biggest obstacle that we face. I think we establish that he's as good a horse on the turf as he is on the dirt, then we get him over there and get him relaxed, comfortable and confident, and doing right."

With Heatseeker retired and Curlin now a serious candidate for the Breeders' Cup Turf, a solid field for the Classic still remains.

Mast Track is coming off a wire-to-wire victory in the Hollywood Gold Cup. The hard-luck Go Between and Tiago are two horses that are always in contention. Student Council was third in the Gold Cup after winning the Pimlico Special.

Lava Man and Perfect Drift are the old men of the handicap division. Their presence in the Breeders' Cup Classic would be most welcomed.

What we need are some three-year-olds to show they can compete with the big boys. A pair of three-year-olds, Curlin and Hard Spun, were first and second in the 2007 Classic. This year's class is decidedly of lesser quality.