edith woodward bancroft (october 8, 1905 – november 4, 1971) was an american owner and breeder of thoroughbred racing horses best known for breeding and racing damascus, the 1967 american horse of the year and a 1974 national museum of racing and hall of fame inductee who was ranked 16th in the 1999 blood-horse magazine list of the top 100 racehorses of the 20th century. among others, edith bancroft bred cloudy dawn, who won the arlington handicap and dwyer stakes and ran third to winner riva ridge in the 1972 belmont stakes.