ENCINITAS — When the Del Mar racetrack kicked off its 69th season, Jack Woolen was among the record-setting crowd of 43,459. He didn’t win the hat contest, nor was he the day’s biggest winner or greatest loser. Woolen’s presence July 16 is notable because it was his 56th consecutive appearance for opening day at Del Mar.

Like the postman’s unofficial creed, neither rain nor heat nor even illness can keep Woolen away on opening day.

“In 1983, I got very, very sick,” Woolen said. “I was in the hospital. I was in a coma for four or five months.” Fortunately Woolen had come out of the coma before opening day. “A friend of mine came and got me and we went to opening day at the races. Then I went back in the hospital,” he said.

At the time, Woolen wasn’t trying to set any records. “It wasn’t until about 10 years ago that I realized I had a streak going,” he said. “Then I thought, ‘I don’t know many people that have done this so I’m going to keep it going as long as I can.’”

A true racing fan, Woolen’s track attendance isn’t limited to opening day. “I used to go almost every day,” he said. “Now I go twice, three times a week. I’ve met an awful lot of nice people at the races.”

Woolen’s list of friends is a Hollywood’s who’s who of the early days at Del Mar — Bing Crosby, Betty Grable, Pat O’Brien and Harry James, to name a few. “I knew Jimmy Durante very, very well,” he said. “In fact, I taught Jimmy Durante how to fish in the surf.

“I knew (actor) Victor Mature,” Woolen said. “I did a fishing show with Bing Crosby and (sports broadcaster) Curt Gowdy.” Woolen also includes jockeys Laffit Pincay Jr. and Bill Shoemaker among his friends.

Born within city limits Nov. 11, 1931, Woolen considers himself one of the few, if not only, true natives of Encinitas. His mother gave birth in the back of the family’s grocery store on what is now an empty lot next to When in Rome restaurant on Coast Highway 101. He attended Central Elementary School, before Paul Ecke was added to the name, and the now-closed Pacific View. He graduated high school in Chino, but returned to Encinitas and began working in the construction industry.

Woolen, a retired Marine platoon sergeant who served in the Korean War, helped build several local shopping centers, including one on Vulcan Avenue that was eventually replaced with the City Hall complex and another in Cardiff-by-the-Sea.

“I also built the additions to the San Dieguito High School — the gymnasium and all of the shop buildings,” he said. “There’s not much around here I haven’t helped build.”

Woolen retired about 15 years ago. He now works part time at Rite Aid in the Santa Fe Drive shopping center, which he also helped build.

“I do that so I can play the horses,” he said.

Woolen’s first trip to the track was in 1938, when his older brother took him to watch Seabiscuit race.

“I also saw Crazy Kid break the world’s record for six furlongs at Del Mar,” said Woolen, who’s seen his share of changes in the sport, not the least of which is Del Mar’s switch to an artificial track last season.

“There are slower times, but it’s better for the horses,” he said. “Every horse in the race has a better chance now. At one time at Del Mar if you had a front-running horse, you had a winner … either in the one, two or three post position. Now it is all changed. The come-from-behind horse has as much, or more, of a chance to win than the front runners.”

That said, Woolen recalled one race on the old track that proved his theory wrong. “I loved the horse (jockey Don Pierce) was on. I bet $150 on the horse at 60-to-1 odds,” he said. “This was on the turf course. All the horses were on the turn coming for home and he was almost at the finish line. That’s how far he was in front.”

At one point, before the race ended, Woolen headed inside to collect his winnings. “About two feet from the finish line, the horse jumped over the hedge,” Woolen said. “It was terrible.”