Rob , many years ago in a land far, far, away I was running a black in field trials. Having fun with the young dog and winning enough that some guys were not happy when we showed up.
I met a guy in the Hat who was running a chocolate the same age as my black. I've always liked the looks of the chocolates, but this was the first that I saw that could do the work and do it well. We beat him soundly in the derbies that year. He came back the next year and smoked everything around. Won back to back opens.etc. I haven't seem a chocolate like it since, even though there were a ton of his genes around the field trial game.
I did get a chocolate of my breeding that went back two generations to him as I wanted a chocolate with a black 'heart'. He was a good dog for hunting but could not compete.
It really doesn't matter what colour or breed a dog is, if he is happy where he is and the owners are happy with him.