Derby calls; McConnell to miss 'Cats visit

WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., will be skipping Friday's White House visit by Kentucky's championship college basketball team, an aide said.

The Senate minority leader's planned absence Friday doesn't have anything to do with his frequent sparring with President Obama but rather with previous obligations to attend Kentucky Derby festivities in Louisville.

The Hill said McConnell, who went to law school at the University of Kentucky but also attended rival University of Louisville, turned down a White House invitation last year to a state dinner for Chinese President Hu Jintao.